beyond time and space
by sissyC
Summary: This is the Sixth season, as I imagine it, after two years from where we left our heroes. I do not own the characters of Covert Affairs, but I miss a lot on my screen. I apologize for my English but I'm not language native. I have to thank a lot Mandi and Marisol for their support.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was the dawn. The sunrise in the desert was fascinating because it was so different from other places. .She had seen so many of them during her trips for work., so many that she should have gotten used to it. But here, in Sahara, no day was like the day before and would be different from the day to come. She walked out of the tent that the Berber, she was travelling with, had offered her She didn´t remember how many days she had already been travelling through this "sandy sea" but long enough for her body to be adapting to these trips in the heat. She stood in front of the tent and with her hand resting on her forehead she was shading her eyes, a familiar gesture looking exactly towards the East, where the sun had just appeared. The sky was turning orange, pink while the first rays of sun shone onto dunes. Slowly the sky got clearer and clearer until it looked almost white the sunlight was getting so intense that she was forced to look away.

There weren't clouds. The day promised to be hot and breathless. Another one.

A little girl of about 10 years wrapped in her " _burnus_ ", tugged her by the arm and brought her back into the tent where the girl's mother had cooked the morning meal.

"Jedjiga" the woman said making sign to enter and pointing to the plate with food.

Berbers called in that way the woman found in the desert and alive by a miracle. _Jedjiga_ , "flower" was a name that suited her. Her long blond hair was something special in the desert, exactly as flowers were, and as the days passed her hair had taken golden shades even more pronounced because the sun.

Her complexion had become more vivid due to outdoor living. Her eyes were the most striking thing in people that looked at her: big brown eyes that watched everything with great interest and that had the ability to convey her thoughts to anyone who looked at her.

She was very beautiful. Beautiful and alone.

Jedjiga didn't remember how she got into this Tuareg tribe. She just knew that, since they had found her, at least a month had passed during which she had spent feverish and wounded the first week.

Khennuj and Ghumer, the married couple who had been appointed to see her, and their daughter Lila had tried to explain circumstances of her finding which is not easy, however, even if Jedjiga spoke Persian and Turkish and some words were enough similar to tribe's Berber dialect.

In this way she could under stand they had found her dying along the Salt Caravan Route that connects Timbuktu to Taoudenni, in Mali. Jeeps and means that made up the convoy with which she was traveling, were ambushed and had been blown up. In a few survived, and those few, were accepted in the nomadic tribe and taken to the nearest center of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Timbuktu.

Tracing back the road, Abu-Mokhammed and his people had stopped on the site of the attack to plunder the convoy of what could serve them.

While they were seeking useful goods in the wreckage, Lila had noticed that, below one of the jeep, there was a blond lady "as beautiful as a flower." Ghumer and Khennuj pulled her from the wreckage, trated her quickly and put her gently on a camel of caravan.

Abu-Mokhammed decided to bring her with themselves because bringing her back to MSF camp meant loosing other two days of trip.

Medical doctors geve them several kind of medecines, s they were able to cure her without having to go back to town.

The comunication among them was not one of the simplest things. Jadjiga had learned a few Berber words but not enough to hold a conversation. She spent much time alone, when the tribes camped for the night, followed silently by Lila, who became her shadow.

Jadjiga did not remember almost anything of her past, except for a few flashes of the places where she was, that, along with the fact that she knew several languages, were assumed to have traveled a lot.

That morning, after eating his _bonchiar_ , a kind of wafer covered with butter and honey, came out of the tent wearing a blue _burnus_ and a white veil.

Berber tribesmen were all very busy dismantling the camp to continue their journey as soon as possible. They had been stopped for a couple of days because of a sandstorm that had completely changed the landscape, moving dunes with impressive speed.

Jadjiga was enchanted to observe how, in the space of half an hour, the sky had become clearer and at the same time more vivid. Then, for a few seconds, she stared at the sun and suddenly closed her eyes dazzled.

"I may be blind, now. Like him" she thought.

She opened her eyes in surprise. _Like him_. Him, who?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"You call me, Calder?"

"Yes, come in Joan"

Calder Michaels got up from his seat and went to meet her, then he turned to his staff and he said: "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Joan Campbell, the former head of the DPD and now director of a maximum-security task force "

He shifted the only free chair, next to his place, and offered her the seat. Joan remember that room very well. Almost nothing had changed: the same table and the same chairs, in the same position. How many meetings she had held in there with all her staff. She looked around and smiled at two guys who she knew since they had been part of the DPD already since she ran it, Eric Barber and Andrew Hollman. Anderson and Walker were missing, of course, because the CIA was no longer part of their lives but, without them, the room seemed emptier, almost incomplete.

"Joan, we are investigating some data transmissions in code, intercepted by the satellite in the last three weeks from one area of Mali next to Timbuktu" Calder's voice brought her back to the present. "As you know, from 2013 to today, although the news did not talk about it, the guerrillas continued. The data that has struck our interest is that of an ambush on the Salt Caravan Route, between Timbuktu and Taoudenni's mines. It seems they have blown up an entire convoy of 3 Jeeps and six heavy trucks. From what we can understand, it seems that Americans are also involved"

While Calder spoke, the face of Joan became more serious and gloomy. "Survivors?" she asked.

"We don't know for sure" Calder answered. Then he turned to one of his aides and called upon "Barber?"

"Yes, sir" Eric said pulling from his briefcase a flood of sheets with deciphered codes. "Well… from eavesdroppers that we were able to decode, we know that a Tuareg tribe has rescued some people that are part of the caravan then bringing them to the nearest MSF in Timbuktu"

"Do we know who they are, Eric?"

"No, we don't Joan, sorry. We just know they rescued six people. Four of them died in the field hospital as a result of their injuries and the other two are still in comas"

"We were able to identify the convoy from the wreckage found by our allies' task force" a young tech ops interjected. "Well ..." the boy continued, "It seems that it was a humanitarian convoy directed at Taoudenni"

"What do you mean _seems_?" Joan looked intently before the boy, then Barber and finally Calder, raising an eyebrow in inquisitorial way "It seems?" she repeated.

"The convoy was escorted by McQuaid Security" Hollman said.

Joan's blood froze in her veins. This could mean only two things: firstly, the "humanitarian convoy" could easily be coverage for a displacement of militias in guerrilla zones. Second, if indeed it was a coverage, Ryan McQuaid himself would escort the caravan. And if there was Ryan…

"A…Annie?" she babbled

"We know nothing about that, Joan," said Calder "In interceptions we deciphered, there is no mention in any woman, not dead, neither survived" Calder stared Joan. "I'm sorry Joan, we know nothing else"

"Good" she said trying to hide the tremor in her voice"I assume the commissioned to investigate is with my task force"

"I knew you'd say that, Joan. That is why we are here. Whatever you might need, you have only to ask. The entire DPD and I are at your disposal"

"Thank you very much, Calder. I really appreciate that" she said. Then she turned to Eric Barber "Eric, from this moment you belong to me and to my department. Get all that you need and follow me to my office. I'll wait for you at the elevator: have five minutes"

Barber nodded. In his heart he was happy that Joan considered him necessary for this mission. And then it was about Annie.

Neither spoke until they reached the office of the TF. Joan showed Barber what was to be his desk, inside a room very simple furnished, but with all that modern technology could offer.

"You'll work from there. There are very sophisticated and cutting-edge technological tools, but if you think you need the anything else, you have only to ask "

"There would something," said Barber, looking around very carefully "Actually, _someone_ "

"Who, Eric?" Joan asked

"The person for which this office has been set up. We should call him, Joan "

"yes. Maybe, we should"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It had been raining in torrents for five days now.

They were confined in their cottage for five long, endless days.

"Hey"

" _Hey_ " she mimicked him "Can you say more than just that _, hey_?"

He turned in her direction trying to guess the reason for her attitude.

"I am fed up! Five days! Five damn, endless days of rain!" she started to walk back and forth impatiently "I want to get out of here! I want to leave."

She stopped in front of him, she grabbed him by the shoulders almost screaming "It's like being in jail!"

He smiled slightly, took her hands and held them clasped between his. He took a deep breath and brought her hands to his lips, but did not have time to kiss them because she struggled.

"Do not you dare Auggie! I do not want that! I do not want you to treat me like a child who broke a new toy! I want to ... I NEED to get out, to walk, to run, to jump, to drink."

"Tash..."

"Stop it!" she shouted "I cannot bear that you treat me like that!"

Auggie stood up from his chair and walked to the door of the cottage, out on the patio.

Better leave her alone, at times like these.

The air was cool and moist. He concentrated on the noise that was the rain beating on the pavement. He breathed deeply, enjoying the intense fragrance of wet earth. Five providential rainy days, at that time of year when the weather in Indonesia was rather dry. For him, at last, meant five days off.

He leaned against the wall, he closed his eyes and mentally he went over the last two years of his life. Two years. At least, what were five days compared to two years?

He did not understand itch to live of Natasha. Since he had left the CIA, Auggie and Natasha had traveled the world far and wide, diping into their savings.

They had never stopped in one place for more than a month or two. Just enough time to recover from jet-lag. When they were short of money, they worked part-time or seasonal, just enough to scrape together a little money and departed.

Auggie was beginning to want to stop, to put down roots. Maybe back in America.

Life almost reckless, as they were doing, was disorienting him beyond measure for him, but Natasha did not seem to get enough.

It was no doubt that the explosion of the building in Grozny, where they had almost lost their lives, had marked them both deeply, even though, he realized now, in very different ways.

The first months he had enjoyed meeting new people and, tasting new foods so different. They visited museums and art galleries of all sorts where there were three-dimensional reproductions of the most famous paintings so that even a blind person could see them. Natasha wanted to do things unimaginable and dangerous: she started with rock climbing, bungee jumping, base jumping, base-climbing ... not counting the long nights spent wandering among the most renowned locals, drinking and getting drunk until it hurts.

"I want to feel alive, Auggie" she had answered one day

"But you ARE alive, Tash"

"No Auggie. Spending the day in the sun or just visiting museums is killing me. I might as well have died in that explosion. I want to feel the rush of adrenaline that runs through my veins"

Initially Auggie had followed her in these city tours. But then he started to get bored. Basically there was little that a blind man could do in an overcrowded dance floor and, of course, he could not follow Tash in extreme sports without jeopardizing his safety and that of those who accompanied him. The mess of people and music baffled him so much that he was physically ill. When he said that to Tash she answered annoyed "Well, stay here in the hotel. I'll go there alone" Auggie said nothing and, as in a flash, a thought came up to his mind." _Annie never did that_ " but he banished the thought, shaking his head.

When she came back from her dangerous trips and told him what she had done, Natasha's voice was full of excitement.

"You have to try it" she said to him "so you can understand what it means to be alive."

"Tash, I AM alive. I have you and this makes me feel more alive than ever"

"You don't want to understand Auggie. You don't even try, to under stand."and with that she closed the conversation.

Every day Tash had something to do, she _must_ have something to do. The adrenaline that raged in her body each time, had become her drug.

Instead, by the explosion, he had learned to enjoy the tranquility of rainy days, reading a good book, the wind, a walk on the beach.

Yes, the explosion had irremediably left its mark on them. But so completely different from each other.

After a few months, Auggie began to feel a bit put aside, he felt that his blindness was becoming a burden to his partner. But he never said how she made him feel. He loved her and would put up with this. After all he had already done it for Annie, long ago. He had always helped and covered her in each of her missions as well as her mistakes. He was her handler, he had to. He _wanted_ to do it

Annie...

He was still leaning against the wall of the patio, with eyes closed savoring the smell of rain. His mind still wandered in the memories of those months spent with Natasha when he realized that more and more often he involuntarily compared her, Annie, to Tash. There was a chasm between them.

Maybe Annie would never have intentionally left him alone to do extreme sports or to dance and get drunk.

In what seemed a very long time, Auggie saw the five years spent working side by side with Annie. He saw mentally every single mission, when, as her handler, he was in constantly in touch with her. He thought of the smile he heard in her voice and, her steps. He found himself thinking about how, after everything, he missed his life at the Agency.

He opened his eyes slowly, continuing to think of Annie. He had not heard from her since then, two years ago, when he went to tell her of his decision to leave the CIA.

" _What are you doing now, Annie?_ " he thought leaning forward on the railing " _Where are you?"_

Tash's voice behind him startled him, almost making him feel guilty of thinking of another woman

"Are you deaf as well as blind?" She said annoyed "Your phone has been ringing for a while"

"Thanks, Tash" Auggie answered, but she'd already went back in the cottage.

Auggie touched the display and a tiny voice announced " _unknown number_ "

Who could look for him at this hour of the morning? He answered the call

"Hello?"

"Good evening Auggie, or should I say good morning? I do not know what time it is where you are. Nor do I know where you are, in fact "

"Joan?" he asked surprised

"Yeah. Nice to hear from after such a long time "


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Joan…" Auggie repeated.

"I wanted to call you before, Auggie. But I knew that you needed your space and your time after that. I did not want you to think that I meant in any way to force you to go back to the Agency " she paused being sure not to show any emotion in her voice."How are you, Auggie?"

"Quite good, Joan. And you?"

"i'm fine, but a little tired. You know our job. And then, with a little child…"

"Mackenzie…" Auggie sighed "He'll be pretty lively, I suppose."

"oh, yes" Joan smiled "lively and precocious" she took a deep breath and said "Forgive me Auggie if I didn't call you before, just to say hello"

"Don't worry Joan, it's ok"

"Auggie..."

The man caught the concern in her voice, concern that she was not able to hide this time.

"Are you all ok, right? You, Arthur..."

"Yes Auggie, all is ok but..."

"Annie?" Auggie asked anxiously.

"I have not heard from her in about a year" she answered "You know she's working for Ryan McQuaid now. However, actually we have some recent news about McQuaid Security, back three weeks ago. But we need to check the intel accuracy and..."

"Joan" Auggie interrupted her "tell me clearly what..."

"Not by phone. Where are you?"

"Indonesia"

"Good. I will organize the flight and I'll be with you as soon as possible"

"I will leave my phone's GPS on, Joan. Eric can take its coordinates"

"Thanks Auggie"

"See you soon"

He was silent, with his eyes closed, for several minutes that seemed endless. In his mind and his heart it seemed that emotions were fighting.

Anger, worry, despair.

He went back into the cottage and walked quickly to the wardrobe. He took out his bag and pulled out the laptop. He turned it on, put on headphones and began typing to search of news about anything concerning the McQuaid Security. The bad weather, on this island of Indonesia, did not help the Internet connection. The static site of Ryan's Agency was constantly updated about the various types of services that they offered: private investigations, armed guards, bodyguards and much more. But Auggie could read between the lines, he needed to know something about spying activities.

Natasha watched him silently for a few minutes. Since he had returned after the phone call, she had realized that something had changed. His face was very serious and worried, the tenseness across it brought out the slight wrinkles on his forehead.

She went to him at the desk and put a hand on his shoulder. Auggie took off his headphones.

"Who was on the phone?"

"Joan"

"Joan? Joan Campbell of CIA?"

Auggie nodded. Tash sighed sarcastically.

"Yes, of course. Just like that, the lady speaks and Auggie Doggie is ready to serve her"

"Tash" Auggie warned her

" _Tash_ what?" she shouted, "If I were to ask you to do something for me you do not move a muscle, but when her majesty Joan Campbell whistles you run to her feet"

"This is unfair on your part"

"Oh really? When ever you have done something for me? God forbid that the poor blind August Anderson does something with or for his girlfriend "

"I left the CIA for you, Tash"

""A considerable effort, I would say! And then? What else?" she mocked him.

"I tried, Tash, you know. The crowd and the music make me feel bad. I tried to follow you in your insane business with extreme sports but ... "

"Insane?"she interrupted him "They are not insane, Auggie. They make me feel alive. I'm alive.I HAVE TO feel alive, I need it"

"If you have forgotten, I'm blind" he scolded her.

"Oh really?" she shouted sarcastically, "And how could I forget it? You're always telling to me, man. Bullshit, Auggie, your blindness makes you comfortable to put a spoke in the wheels. You do NOT want me to feel alive. You want to lock me in a house maybe churning out children. Your children" she added these words almost with contempt.

Now they were standing opposite each other. The woman's words had the effect of a cold shower. They were arguing. Finally, after months of tense silence, they were pulling out everything they had inside.

"Tash..."

"Shut up, Auggie! I can no longer stand these things you do, to put me aside. You always leave me alone. You bastard, August Anderson "

"Leave you alone? ME?" Auggie raised his voice surprised but she ignored his question.

"And what did Mrs. CIA want? Well, what does it matter, go back to them "

"Natasha, they were not asked anything. Or at least not yet. " Auggie tried to explain "Joan will be in Indonesia as soon as possible. She want to talk about interceptions concerning some events in Mali involving McQuaid Security ... "

"Here it is the mistress that recalls her dog! Go, go Auggie. Back to her if that makes you feel better. Back to work with them "

"Tash I didn't say that I would" Auggie tried to keep calm.

"No, you didn't, but you don't have to. It is stated on your face"

In that moment, Auggie's phone rang briefly: a text message arrived. He opened the text and voice application read it "I'll be at the airport in Bali at 7:00 tomorrow morning, local time, with a private plane of Agency"

"Well, you'll be happy now! Your mistress is coming! "

"Stop now, Tash"

"Stop? Why? I'm having fun to see you sucking up!"

Auggie clenched his fists and leaned against the desk.

"What's wrong, Auggie Doggie? The truth hurts you, does it? "Now she was exaggerating, and she knew it. But hurting him was just what she wanted. "So you will package your bags and go home on a leash"

Auggie pressed his lips together to keep from answering, but his anger was rising. " _Why can't she understand_ _?_ "He thought," _If_ _it were not for_ _the Agency_ _she_ _would not be alive_ _,_ _nor_ _would_ _she have_ _the_ _American passport_ _that_ _allows her to_ _go anywhere in the_ _world_ "

He turned back to the wardrobe and began to prepare his stuff. Mentally he calculated how much time he needed to get to Bali from the island where they were. He considered every possible hitch and he knew he had to do everythings fast. After sunset there were no links whatsoever with Bali and, in any case, the next morning the first available trip would be not before 8am.

While he was preparing his bag, Tash watched him in silence. After a long time, she decided to speak "So you have decided" she asked nervously

"Yes Tash. I owe them"

""You don't owe anything at all those people! Anyway go, I can manage perfectly well by myself"

"You always did, Tash" Auggie emphasized.

"Yes sure! Go back to your Joan. Maybe at the airport there might be the blonde slut that you banged for a bit and ... " she couldn't complete the sentence in her sarcastic and provocative tone because Auggie slapped her. She stared at him in disbelief. And he could not believe his action, too.

"Tash…" he started "please, forgive me. I… I didn't want…"

"Good, great man. That explains a lot"

"What do you mean?"

"You lived with me for two years now, but your heart and mind have always been linked to the CIA"

"No, it's not true. I tried to follow you. I followed you wherever you wanted to go and it was not always easy for me, you know."

"Let's say that I am wrong in part, perhaps regarding your mind, but your heart..." Tash smiled and sighed, "Your heart, Auggie, has always remained in Langley, you know it too. You can't deny it."

No, he could not. Now he saw more clearly inside himself. The slap given to Tash, although he was greatly ashamed of having done something so petty, had finally opened that cage he had built around his heart.

"Auggie, you can not do without the CIA. And apparently the CIA can not do without you"

"Yeah. Tash sorry for slapping you, I did not mean to, really. I am ashamed terribly and... "

"Don't worry. I needed it, after all. Now I know for sure, Auggie."

"What do you know?"

"You love her. You never stopped loving her. She came into your soul. She is so much part of you that I don't even know how you did without her for the past two years."

He was silent. He wanted to say that it was not true, but it would have been a lie. Now he knew for sure. He heard Tash go to the door, open it and go out in the rain. He sat down heavily at his desk and replied to the Joan's message " _I'll be there_ " then he leaned his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands.

Tash was right. His mind had often traveled to Langley, imagining what his life with the Task Force where Joan would be. Perhaps if he had remained at the CIA, Annie would come back and they could work together again.

Annie. Yes, she was still there, in his heart, locked up in a caged corner for two long years. But now that he had opened the cage, he seemed to be able to breathe better, to begin feeling the blood pulsing through his veins again. He was living. He felt alive, very alive.

He finished packing his bags quickly and left a note for Tash " _The truth_ _is complicated_ _._ _Forgive me_ "

When he had written it and reread it mentally, he laughed, remembering what Annie had shown him one day a few years before.

"Just complicated people in your life, Walker" he said softly laughing.

He took the bag with his laptop, cane, suitcase and left the cottage.

The rain had stopped. He smiled, his heart finally light, and he went to meet his life.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was the dawn of a new day in the desert.

The Abu-Mokhammed's berber tribe was stopped for a few days in one of the oases of the caravan route, near Taoudenni. Jedjiga had taken advantage of the calm and quiet of oasis, having time for herself. Lila never abandoned her even though she understood the woman needed solitude and, therefore, she kept at a proper distance.

Sitting on a low stool in front of her tent,Jedjiga thought back to the conversation she had in recent days with the Berber leader who spoke a little French. So she had managed to know what happened to her convoy. She had tried to ask why they had not brought even her to the MSF center but, as Abu-Mokhammed had told her, that meant losing about four days of journey and for its people, who lived on trade, every day was precious.

"You never know what can happen in the desert. A dust storm could arrive suddenly and if we are not more than ready..." the berber man left up the speech so that the woman could draw her conclusions. Except for a few injured, six in all, left with the camp doctor, she had managed to find out that there were no other survivors, except her. They had not found documents on her when they had discovered her under the Jeep, so she couldn't know who she was. And her mind was still shrouded in a dense fog.

She was surpised to know French, Persian and Turkish. She was also surpised to remember she had seen the sunrise elsewhere.

"So, I could know other languages" she thought "I could do a job that takes me around the world. Maybe be a hostess or a tour guide. In this case, it would explain why I was in that convoy."

Thoughts in Jedjiga's mind followed one another tangling without any apparent logic.

"Jedjiga" Dassin, Abu-Mokhammed's wife, was calling her. Jedjiga got up and went to the woman, who made her go into her own tent. Inside there were Lila and Khennuj that smiled to her reassuring.

"Sit Jedj" The woman sat down next to the little girl.

"The colour of your hair betrays you, it's too flashy for a Berber woman. We have to dye it. It's for your safety. There are tribes who might want to donate a western woman to their leader." Dassin paused and looked at Jedjiga. "If you were kidnapped, we could not do anything to help you, do you understand?"

Jedjiga nodded.

"Good. If you fell into the hands of raiders of the desert, I hate to think what might happen to you, _ma chèrie_ "

Lila and Khennuj helped her to let down the hair and prepared the dye. When they were done, they made her wear a _boubou_ , a large, dark robe with wide and flowing sleeves, and wrapped her sides with a _pagne_ , a fabric printed with colorful designs. They taught her how to wear makeup to resemble as much as possible to a Tuareg woman and then they showed her how to fix the head scarf.

They made her wear simple silver jewelry and then they gave her comfortable new sandals. The Berber women were very satisfied about their work.

"You just have to learn our language" Lila said

"Oh, _mon Dieu_ " Jedjiga exclaimed "I speak many languages, but yours... it's rather complicated"

"Madam" Khennuj said, turning to Dassin "we could pretend that Jedjiga is dumb"

"Oh, _mâma_! This is a great idea!" Lila said ""Just invent some signs for the important things like sleeping, eating, drinking ..."

"Yes, Lila. This is a good idea" Dassin agreed, then she addressed to foreign woman "Jedjiga you also keep your face a little covered when we are in the presence of other tribes."

Jedjiga nodded.

When she finally was able to go outside again, Jedjiga walked in an area where many palm trees of the oasis created an inviting fresh corner. The woman sat on a carpet lying under a palm tree and she leaned against the trunk. Lila, not far from her, watching her closely, but tried to not be noticed. She liked the blonde lady. She was kind and good. And she was also very beautiful.

Jedjiga looked at the little girl and smiled her, then let her mind wandering again, until she dozed off.

Her sleep was not exactly quiet. The dreams followed one another in apparent disorder.

There were two young girls with her, in a car speeding on the road, at night. Then she was in a kitchen and two young girls chased each other while a woman approached her, exclaiming " _Sweets!_ ".

Then there was a shot, in that kitchen. Jedjiga felt her heart stop in the middle of her chest while she, in her dream, dreamed blue car.

Then there was nothing in her mind that, little by little, was filled with a deep, warm voice " _I never_ _need anyone_ _._ _But_ _I need_ _you_ " A big, strong and warm hand clutched her hand. And that warmth enveloped her and reassured her, moving into her through all her senses.

She woke up with a strong feeling of peace in the soul. Lila was on her knees in front of her with questioning eyes.

" _Tesednan_... madam, who are Katia and Chloe?"

"I don't know, Lila. Why do you ask me that?"

"You called them in your sleep"

Jedjiga didn't answer. In fact she didn't know what to say.

She stared at the sky through the leaves of palm trees. It was a deep blue and enveloping. And she let her mind continuel to wildly chase these thoughts perhaps could be memories. But were they really?

Meanwhile, she remembered that she had invented the signs to pretend to be dumb.

"Dumb. I must be dumb" she thought," Of course we would be a pretty pair: I dumb and he blind." She smiled at the thought. But _who was he_?


	6. Chapter 6

**I have to thank my dear friends Mandi and Marisol for their invaluable help and support.**

Chapter 6

He was already at the airport in Bali from the night before, he couldn't have done differently if he'd be there for Joan's arrival. Sitting at the bar near the gates, Auggie touched his Eone Watch and read the time: 6:15 a.m. Good. He had time to prepare himself. He was sure that Joan wouldn't be alone on the Agency's private plane. He texted to Barber for confirmation, then he headed to the boarding gate. When the CIA's jet landed, a SUV approached the plane. Joan got off followed by Barber and headed for the car, but before they could reach it, Auggie got out.

"Auggie!" she said hugging him "It's so good to see you!"

"Same here." he answered and reciprocated warmly embrace.

"Hey Barber."

"Hey, man" Barber answered a little embarrassed, shaking vigorously the hand that Auggie was offering him. Then he pulled him in a fraternal embrace "I missed you, boss"

Auggie smiled, narrowing his eyes "I missed you too, Barber."

While three friend were greeting each other, the SUV driver unloaded theAuggie's luggage.

Joan looked at him in surprise.

"Auggie?" she asked "your luggage? But..."

"Let's go home, Joan. Go back D.C."

"I'll take care of your bags, boss" Barber said with a smile. Auggie nodded; Joan automatically touched his hand and he took her elbow, in that so usual and familiar way to walk side by side.

Once on the plane, They had to wait for the permission to take off. It took about an hour before they got the confirmation. They were arranged so that Auggie and Barber, side by side, could use the same laptop to which the Braille keyboard was attached.

"No need to start now Auggie" Joan said "We have more than 18 flight hours. We have all the time. I imagine for being at the airport on time for our landing, you didn't get much sleep "

"No, indeed. But I suppose you haven't slept much either"

"Well, indeed ..." Barber agreed "But there are bunks bed back there, you know. So we were able to have some rest." Auggie nodded smiling towards his friend.

They settled comfortably in their seats and they prepared for the long journey ahead of them.

Auggie closed his eyes in silence. He felt the plane pick up speed on the track, he heard the flaps retracting gradually and he perceived the takeoff. He felt Joan's eyes upon him, but remained silent, with his eyes closed. He was not ready to face her or to answer her questions. Joan sensed it and looked away, well-meaning she didn't want to put him under pressure.

" _He's_ _coming home_ _,_ _with_ _US_ " she thought, " _and_ _this_ _is a lot._ _There will be time_ _to talk_ _later_ "

In a short time Auggie and Barber fell asleep and Joan found herself staring at her geek, trusted companion of many missions. In sleep, it seemed that his face had been stretched. His skin was rather tanned, a sign that he had probably spent a lot of time outdoors. He wore a light gray linen shirt with sleeves rolled up, and a pair of black jeans of lightweight fabric. His clothes undelined his lean and well-turned body. He looked exactly as she remembered him. His face was framed by a mass of dark curls and shoulder-length. He looked a bit scruffy but quite charming. A short beard hardened his features.

" _He'_ _d need a_ _visit_ _to a barber_ " thought Joan, then closed her eyes and, lulled by the sound of the plane's engine, he fell asleep.

They all three woke up with a start as the plane lurched violently losing altitude for an air pocket.

"Are you all right?" asked Joan. The men nodded. Auggie looked at his watch, 11:30 a.m. They had not slept much, but it was enough.

"How about we start?" he asked. Barber took a Braille file out of his bag and handed it over to Auggie.

"Those are decoded audio surveillance files. The former are unfortunately not recent. We were able to understand that they were broadcasting data with several days of delay. Luckily we remembered the case solved by you and Annie seven years ago, about the shortwave radio broadcasts from apparently abandoned number stations" Barber paused.

Yes, Auggie remembered that case perfectly.

"In Mali, in 2012," continued Barber "There was a coup, after which the country has had to face situations of continuous warfare. In January of 2013 the United States, just like some other European countries, decided to send men and equipment, to provide logistical support and train the Malian army. Since then the country has officially resolved internal conflicts, but actually attacks by Islamist guerrillas continue"

While Barber talked, Auggie read his dossier

"As you know, Auggie" Joan interject "the sub-Saharan region is still pretty hot. There have been several periods of war between countries, and there is still far-reaching genocide throughout the area. Groups of volunteers and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) are now located in many of these countries to deliver humanitarian aid. The convoy was on its way to Taoudenni and attacked by guerrillas. It seems that the six heavy trucks were carrying humanitarian aid of various kinds "

"It seems?" Auggie echoed

Joan nodded. "Well, we can say that the US government is no longer interested in all that. But the US troops are still trying to calm the riots. The convoy was escorted by an armed corps of McQuaid Security travelling on three Jeeps. We contacted the offices of Ryan's Agency" Joan paused and Auggie's eyes narrowed slightly, waiting."Ryan was in Mali, Auggie. He was head of the armed escort. But up till now, we don't know anything else"

"Although it is not entirely accurate, in fact" Barber intervened "The secretary I talked to at McQuaid Security told me that Annie was in South Africa with a task force to support the local police to escort the heads of state in the capital because of Mandela-Day. It seems that later she had to meet Ryan in Mali with her group of guards, but according to my information, Annie and her team have seen for the last time in Lagos, Nigeria, about two months ago. Since then they have lost their tracks"

"Calder thinks both Annie and her task force have reached Mali separately, as tourists, then they joined the McQuaid's armed escort" Joan concluded

Auggie had listened to everything very carefully and, at the same time, had read his file to make sure he hadn't missed any useful information. Among the three of them there was silence for a few minutes

"Where do we begin, boss? "

"Eric, where would you begin?"

"Well, you know ... maybe we should wait for the news of Calder Michaels and his team. While we came to Bali, they left for Nigeria "

"Calder himself went in the field?" Auggie said, "I'm not surprised. When we met him in Medellin, he didn't seem like he could just sit behind a desk "

Auggie leaned back in his seat, put on his Grados and closed his eyes. Neither Joan nor Barber disturbed him.

Sounds of " _Girl of_ _my Dreams_ " by Charles Mingus kept him company as he followed his memories.

Medellin, Colombia.

He had heard the surprise in her voice when Annie found him in front of her in the hotel, he had felt her embrace, her soft hands on his face, her warm lips on his. Strangely, the fact that he had been shot and his meeting with Teo Braga, who had token out the bullet, were memories a little fuzzy while every moment spent with Annie was more vivid than ever in his mind.

Upon arriving in D.C., a car was ready for them on the airfield.

When they arrived in Langley, many Auggie's former colleagues approached him and shook his hand.

It was a sequence of " _Hey_ _Anderson_!" " _Welcome back_ _Auggie_ " " _Good to see_ _Auggie_ " until they reached the top floor, in the wing occupied by the Joan's Task Force.

"This is your office, Auggie. We furnished it with everything you might need. Make yourself at home"

" _My office_ Joan?" Auggie asked surprised as he moved around the room, memorizing the position of the forniture and touching the equipment provided. The arrangement was pretty similar to the one he had had in the DPD.

"Wow! The best technology that the market can offer, "he said," How did you know I'd be back Joan? "

"I didn't know, Auggie. But I hoped"

 _ **Thanks**_ _ **for**_ _ **the reviews**_ _ **, they**_ _ **are an incentive**_ _ **to continue writing**_ _ **my story**_ _ **.**_

 _ **I hope you continue**_ _ **to read**_ _ **and**_ _ **have fun**_ _ **.**_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Call from Calder Michaels on the private line, ma'am."

"Good, thank you Cynthia" Joan answered. When her secretary left the office, she picked up the phone, drew a deep breath and took the call.

"Calder" Joan said.

"Joan"

"Any news?"

"Not much. In the past two days we followed the traces of Annie and her men. They worked undercover for about 10 days, recruiting mercenaries. They looked like a group of friends traveling. Our informers were able to know that then, by different routes and at different times, they headed first to Morocco and from there to Mali. Annie was the last to leave Lagos with two other women. They traveled by train along the Atlantic coast. Now we will divide into two teams and we will reach Mali separately. If there should be something more serious in that not a recruiting men to escort humanitarian convoys, we must be cautious"

"Ok, Calder. Anything else?"

"No Joan, not right now. I've send to you a complete report, you'd have already received it." While Calder's sayng these words, Auggie went in the Joan's office with the report.

"Joan, we got a cable from Nigeria, it's from Calder"

"I know, Auggie. Come in"

"Auggie?" Calder asked, surprised. Joan pressed the speakerphone button on the phone,

"Hey, Auggie" Calder said

"Hey, Michaels. Happy to hear you"

"Welcome back, Anderson. I'm happy to hear you, too"

Joan hung up the receiver. "Well?" She asked her tech op. Auggie gave the report to the woman, he sat down in front of her at the desk and was silent, waiting as she read the entire file.

"Calder and his team are going to leave Lagos. They'll follow traces of Annie and her guys"

"It'll not be easy, Joan. Annie is good at hiding her tracks "Auggie thought back to when Annie disappeared en route between Hong Kong and Washington, and she was not heard from again for four long months.

"I know what you're thinking, Auggie and I know that Annie is good. But what reason would she has to disappear, this time? "

"Joan, they were recruiting mercenaries, if you'd forgotten"

"True, but this can mean many things"

"For example?"

"For example, Ryan tried the local people as a spare to give less attention, because the locals know the customs and traditions of those countries better than us, as well as the logistics and political situation which as you know, it is pretty hot"

"Not even you believe in what you're saying" Auggie said. He had returned to the CIA a few days ago, but it was as if he had never gone.

He got up and walked to the window, placing a hand on the glass. It was a beautiful day in late September. The sun was beating on the window panes transmitting its heat inside the office. He closed his eyes and tried to remember the autumn, with its warm colors, with the smell of the wet earth from the morning dew, with the first fog. Joan reached him, put a hand on his shoulder and assured him: "We'll find her, Auggie."

He turned to her, nodded slowly, and walked out of her office to go in his own. He closed the door behind him and this was a clear indication that he didn't want to be disturbed for a while.

The wall that separated Auggie's office from the rest of the Task Force departement had a very large window that reminded him of his office at the DPD. From his perch, Eric could see his friend and mentor, and read on his face all the concern about the fate of Annie. Barber couldn't understand how they could be separated. Five years side by side, working together almost day and night, was not small thing. Watching them day after day, he had seen a gradual birth of a feeling of friendship berween them that was so deep that it could not do anything but become love. They had an excellent relationship, they understand each other even without speaking, they were what one could call: _soul mates_.

Of course, Annie's decision to go in the dark, had been heavy for Auggie to accept, but Eric understood her decision. Annie was concerned that Henry could do harm to the people who she loved, but if she died, he would not have looked for her any more and she would have been able to act undisturbed and defeat him. And she had done it. Annie had killed Henry, she had liberated the world from a dangerous and devious criminal.

As if he could hear Barber's thoughts, Auggie looked up from the desk at which he was working, left the office and called him: "Hey, man, how about some coffee?"

"I'm in. Let me take the jacket and ... "

"No, Eric, I don't want to go out. I still do not orient well in these offices." Auggie admitted "Would you bring it to me, please? "

"Oh, yes, of course" Eric said a little disappointed. He wanted to spend time with his friend, talking a bit with him, try to distract him a little. After all the entire DPD and Joan's Task Force were on the case and they could afford the time for a coffee. The tone in Eric's voice didn't escape Auggie and he was sorry.

"Let's go out for lunch, shall we?" he said.

"Go for lunch," Eric answered.

Auggie returned to his desk, put on headphones and went back to work. His mind, however, seemed to want to chase the memories.

" _How did we get_ _to_ _this point_ _,_ _Annie_?" he thought.

Annie had decided to work in the dark, a heavy thing to manage. He had to pretend she was dead but he wanted nothing more than to hug her, hold her, kiss her.

Then Helen had reappeared. Auggie cursed himself for having spent the night with her, even though it was only one night. How could he? He missed the human contact between man and woman, feeling the thrill down his spine when two people share the bed intimately. He knew he had made love with Helen, but his mind wanted it to be Annie.

He wondered if Annie knew what happened. Of course, she knew. They had cleaned up Helen's flat and Annie had seen.

When she returned after Hong Kong, Annie was no longer the same. When you kill someone you cannot be the same person. Something breaks inside you. She had become suspicious, she had not told him about her heart. Did she no longer trust him? Yet he would have given his life for her. She had hurt him.

They had hurt each other, indeed. Going to bed with Tash in Paris was another mistake. Of course, the mission ... but he knew that was a lie. Hurting Annie, making her jealous, had become one of his needs. But this was only served to move them away even further increasing misunderstandings.

Then McQuaid punched the desk.

"I cannot blame Ryan of our mistakes," he thought. After all he liked Ryan. He was a good man and good at his job, damn good. He had followed Annie without fuss when she left to save him, her best friend, and he had taken care of her.

They had saved his life and that of Tash

"Hey, Auggie" Barber's voice brought him back to the present "your coffee. 10 O'clock."

"Thanks Barber"

"All right Auggie?"

"Let's say yes. I've had better days"

"For whatever ..."

Auggie smiled at him, nodding in thanks. He put on his headphones and went back to work, sipping his coffee slowly.

Annie and Ryan could be in danger. Or worse, they could be dead. He drove this last thought from his mind.

He had a huge debt with both. They had saved his life, Natasha's and James Deckard's.

"We will find you guys, and you bring them home," he thought.

His fingers run fast on the keyboard; reading software allowed him to follow the sending and receiving of some decrypted file more quickly than by simply typing.

For over three hours Auggie continued to read files of the wiretaps' transcriptions from the last four weeks. Nothing, he found nothing. He couldn't find anything that could even give the slightest clue on how to begin rolling out an action plan to be submitted to Joan.

"Auggie, it's lunchtime" Barber said, entering in the office of his friend; Auggie touched his watch: 1:50 p.m.

"Barber, I'm sorry, I did not realize it was so late"

"No problem, man. Green Goddess salad without peanuts 9 o'clock, water 12 o'clock, cutlery and napkin to the right of the water "

"Eric ..." Auggie was surprised and touched at the same time.

"I knew that I could not break you away from this desk, my friend. And if I remember correctly, this was your favorite salad."

"Not mine, Annie's. But it's nice that you remembered it."

"Oh, ok ... sorry ..." Barber stammered.

"No, it's okay. I like it, too" Auggie smiled gratefully, of his gentle smile that warmed the heart.

Barber went out. Auggie put on his headphones and started to listen to wiretaps while consuming his meal. He listened to them again and again several times. A phrase he was listening to was not perfectly clear. Firstly he had to understand the general sense and then he would go further. He had to succeed, just as he had managed to do that time Annie was accused of treason by Lena Smith. He had to save her, his Annie.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Calder Michaels and his team had arrived in Timbuktu a couple days ago. They had contacted the local police and informants, trying to put together another piece of the puzzle.

They had to move cautiously. The jihadi militias had eyes and ears everywhere and the last thing that Calder wanted was to create a diplomatic incident with the local government and allied forces, also because they had news that soon, in Algiers, negotiations for peace would resume the third time among groups of Tuareg and Arab separatists and the central government in Mali. It was not a simple situation: they had to use all possible caution and play well their own cards.

In DPD's offices, techs ops were working together with those of the Joan Campbell's Task Force to decipher and interpret any interception detected while extraction teams were alerted in case of need.

"Sir, a call from DC in five minutes. Secured line" one of Calder's men said. He left the room in which they had set up their headquarters and he walked on the roof of the building, where there was a large sunny terrace.

His cell phone rang. _Mingus_ name appeared on his display.

"Hey, Auggie. News?"

"Ryan was escorting a convoy with weapons and troops"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. Last month, France has regionalized its military presence, it seems among Libya, Mali and Niger. Right in Niger, two days ago, the French special forces have found and destroyed a convoy that carryed heavy weapons, including SA-7 anti-aircraft systems. Now it seems they want to open a new military base in Madama, in the northeast of Niger."

Calder was silent. This information explains a lot of things and, at the same time, it's getting complicated.

"Ok Anderson, thank you"

"What are you doing now?"

"Meanwhile, we will check the Doctors Without Borders' camp and see what we can find"

"Well, keep me informed Calder"

"Will do"

Calder returned to the room where his men were waiting for him and he informed them about what he had just heard.

"We need to move quickly but discreetly. We will be tourists, we will visit the city to the camp of Doctors Without Borders in North."

"What about the rest of our team, sir?"

"We will reach in the next few days in Agadez, Niger. Currently part of a convoy of some tourist caravan routes. At the moment we are not in direct radio-contact, but from the DPD they are keeping connections both us and them. These are your protocols boys" and he gave his men some folders containing all the information and coverage of the case.

In the early afternoon, with a tour guide provided by a local agency, they began a tour of the city.

The first thing they visited was the Djinguereber Mosque, built in 1327; it was an imposing building made entirely of earth, straw and wood. The guide explained that it had three large courtyards and two minarets, as well as a prayer space that can accommodate up to 2000 people.

"This mosque is one of three _madrasas_ , namely schools, which make up the University of Timbuktu and in 1988 became an UNESCO's World Heritage Site" the tour guide concluded.

The " _tourists_ " snapped some pictures, showing interested in various architectural details as well, as good spies, some human gatherings around the walls of the mosque.

On the way to reach the second madrasa, the Sidi Yahya Mosque, Calder and his men looked at the pictures, commenting about the architectural style and describing the clothing of some people, photographed randomly. This dialogue served to distract their tour guide, while Calder sent some photos to Langley, where a _bird_ , a small _hummingbird_ , would identify any spies or terrorists.

Then they visited the Sankore Mosque, located further North, the oldest of the three.

"In this mosque there was the largest collection of books in Africa. It boasted something like 700,000 manuscripts "explained the guide.

"I know that not far from here there is a center of Doctors Without Borders" Calder asked the guide.

"Yes, indeed ..." suspicious guide replied "It is about 15 minutes away from here"

"We would love to visit it if it's not a problem," Calder said again.

"You see, I'm a doctor" one of the men's team said "and I'd love to visit the center. It would be a great help in my work" the man's voice became more smooth and persuasive in trying to convince the guide.

"Yes sure. I understand perfectly. Doctors never go on vacation, right? "

They reached the area where the medical base was in about half an hour. It was like a small village in the town: there were some tents of various sizes, in which were some children playing or reading, and adults who were chatting with each other while sitting at tables.

A woman met them. She was not very tall and her long hair blacks was collected roughly in a chignon. Her eyes were alert and inquiring as someone who was used to having to do with mistrust and bad faith of the people. Quickly she wiped her hands on a towel she kept in the pocket of the coat and came up smiling gently.

"Good afternoon. Can I help you? I am Diana Reeves, one of the volunteers of the center "

"Good afternoon Diana. I am Calder Quinn and these are my friends" Calder said. He had kept his name also undercover because he thought that it would be easier not to make a mistake during the talks. Then one by one presented his companions "Fred Smith, Bryan Gordon and Justin Muller"

The man presented as Justin Muller shook her hand vigorously "Hello Diana," he said, "Forgive us if we came here. We are on vacation and we were visiting the city, but I am a doctor and I would really like to visit your medical base"

"It is true that doctors never stop thinking about work!" Exclaimed Diana smiling "Come. You can sit in one of those tents while I'm going to get Dr. Thompson. I will bring something to drink "

They did not have to wait long. Diana was returning with a rather tall man with graying and disheveled, a pair of thin, dark-rimmed glasses and a beard.

Calder looked at Justin, making an imperceptible gesture with eyes. Now it was his turn. Justin got up and went to meet the couple.

"Doctor, this is one of your colleagues," Diana said.

"I'm Jordan Thompson, doctor of this small base MSF"

"I am Justin Muller. I work in a small hospital in Helena, Montana "

"Beautiful places" Dr. Thompson answered "Or so someone told me. I have never been over there "

"A pity, believe me. If you ever want to visit Montana, you will be my welcome guest, " Justin said, of course knowing everything about Dr. Thompson. All his cover had been built around the figure and the history of medical doctor: age, family, study, travel, work.

"Well Dr. Muller. How can I help you? "

"Call me Justin, please. We're partners, right? "Smiled the man" If possible I would like to visit your center. Call it professional deformation

"Well Dr. Muller"

"Justin" emphasized again the Calder's operative.

"Justin," Dr. Thompson agreed "Come on, I'll show you how we work in this outpost forgotten by the world"

"Thank you Jordan, I appreciate it"

"Your friends? Do you think they want to come with us? "

"Who? Oh, no, not them! Fred and Brian are impressionable. Perhaps Calder. Can I invite him? "

"Yes sure"

Justin turned and called him with a nod. They began their tour coming in small buildings.

Studies and his medical degree, helped Justin to be totally credible in its coverage.

Room after room, while Justin and Jordan were discussing therapies and medicines, Calder watched carefully every detail that would help him carry out his mission. With the cunning and skill that came from being a spy, he took photos and sent to Langley.

"In this department we have hospital rooms"

There were people of different races in conditions more or less serious. "The insurgency in these areas is an ongoing challenge," said Thompson

"I guess. Your work in these areas is fundamental Doctor" Calder said.

They came to a small room, in which there were two empty beds. The other two were occupied by two white men that drew the Calder's attention. A look at Justin and the man knew he had to distract Thompson just enough because Calder could enter in the room, photograph people and get out.

Sending photos to Langley was preceded by a short message directed to Auggie. One word: RYAN.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"So, Ryan is alive" thought Auggie. At last, some good news. Now, they had to find a way to bring him back to USA. Barber was instructed to contact the McQuaid Security and to coordinate with them Ryan's return in DC.

The next step was to find out if there were other survivors, but also to reconstruct the dynamics of the attack suffered by the convoy and why. Also there was the issue of Annie's disappearance.

Auggie did not sleep much, too many thoughts ran through his mind. And, among all his concerns, there was Natasha. They had left really bad and neither of them had even taken the first step to call each other. But Auggie knew that they were unlikely to hear from each other again.

"Morning Joan" Auggie said to the lady that was coming into his office.

"Hi Auggie. I'd almost forgotten about your ability to always know who is around you"

"Remember? Your necklaces." Auggie smiled

"Yes, but I also remember I told you to leave these games to someone else," she answered. Her tone of voice made it clear to Auggie she was smiling. But Joan's glance was concerned. They had returned from Bali ten days ago but she had not yet seen Auggie leave Langley. His face was drawn and tired.

"Auggie how long has it been since you had a good night's sleep?"

"I'm fine, Joan."

"Go home, go to sleep, take a shower and shave the beard"

"I'm fine, Joan, really"

"I want you on the case one hundred percent tomorrow. Today you are off. It is an order Auggie "Joan tone brooked no argument.

Reluctantly, Auggie nervously picked up his things and left the office. Once he got home, he put his bag, keys and cane on the cabinet next to the entrance, he closed the door behind him and took a deep breath. Joan was right. Concerns, the few hours of sleep and nervous tension were exhausting him: he needed rest.

He knew the apartment like the back of his hand, it was his old apartment. He had never canceled the lease, he hadn't had the opportunity. Or rather, he had never sought the opportunity. After all, he had always hoped to return one day. He walked to the bedroom, he lay down without even undressing and in a few minutes he fell asleep.

But his sleep was not peaceful. His mind was crowded with dreams: he saw Tash, then Annie, then Helen, then Annie again. After about an hour he got up, took a shower and shaved, he got a coffee and sat on the couch listening to some music. Even his livingroom, as his mind, was crowded with memories: Parker's suitcase in which he had stumbled on the day that she had left him; the dress that Annie had worn to Theatre of Vienna and that she had worn again just for him; Annie that had said she had taken his favorite shirt; Barber and Hollman that were trying to decrypt files to have against Henry Wilcox; every memory inevitably revolved round Annie. After a few minutes, he returned to bed and fell fast asleep this time, he slept a dreamless sleep.

The ringing of his phone woke him. He checked his watch, the 5:45 p.m., then he answered.

"Hey, Barber"

"Sorry to bother you, boss, but I know you wish to read immediately the transcript of the interception deciphered few minutes ago. You had lunch?"

"No, not really"

"Ok, I'll arrive in 15 minutes. Pizza?"

"Pizza" confirmed Auggie

He had just enough time to have shower and fix the little mess he had left this morning. He settled the kitchen's island with paper towels and a couple of cold beers just in time, that Barber knocked.

"Hey Auggie, how are you?"

"Better, thanks. I really needed to sleep"

"Yeah. I have pizza and today's interceptions. Where do we start?"

"Both, I'd say"

They sat around the kitchen's island and began working with laptop and files of interceptions. As they ate, Auggie heard over and over again the last interception decoded; there was something that sounded familiar, but he could not figure out what it was. He replayed all the transcriptions of last week, he slipped the headphones and began to listen again.

Each interception contained information about the movements of Berber tribes along the caravan routes to Egypt. What link could this news have with the rest of the text? He listened and listened to those interceptions while Eric remained connected with the CIA and unloaded on his laptop every communication that passed between Calder Michaels and the DPD, between the DPD and the Joan's Task Force. Particularly, he was able to intercept some communications between McQuaid Security and a well-masked IP address on the web. Eric had tried to track it but he had begun to find some signals bouncing between different servers located between Europe and the Middle East he was in danger of being discovered and of jeopardizing the entire operation.

"How about a break Barber? A beer?"

"Yes thanks. Did you find anything in those interceptions? "

"Maybe. Almost all interceptions refer of Berber tribes traveling on the caravan routes of the Sahara and I'm trying to find the link with the rest of the content, they speak of attacks by guerrillas or meetings for peace treaties, or even of the weather forecast . These must be distractions, I think."Auggie paused, he handed the beer to his friend and then asked: "And you, did you find anything?"

"Maybe, Auggie" he took a sip of beer and then said: "I followed an IP address but the signal bounces on various servers located between Europe and the Middle East. In addition, our software has detected binaries well encrypted that could operate as spyware. I would not want our screening systems to be detected, so at the moment I stopped. But I sent an email to Hollman to warn him. Maybe if we work from different IP these kind of Troll may not realize that they're watching "

Auggie nodded "It might work. Are you networking with Hollman?"

"Yup. Andrew works from the secreted network of DPD. We have created a parallel network to protect the Agency's against intruders. We're moving slowly to avoid detection "

"Um ... a kind of _Second Life_ of CIA, right?" Auggie smiled satisfied "we could add a new location in this fictitious network, to create virtual connections more numerous and therefore more difficult to track"

"We can, boss. Do you want to join the network from your home? "

"Yes, here I have some pretty good shielding software. Ryan's gift, a couple of years ago. I have always kept it up to date "

While they talked, they were already creating and amplifying ghost-stations from which transmit signals that could derail any detection attempts. Auggie touched his watch.

"Damn, Eric! It's 3 in the morning"

"Yes I know. But we have a job to do and ... "

"That's enough for now. In a few hours we'll be in the office and you have not slept a wink. Go home Eric, get some rest. You'll certainly need it. Joan will want us on the top form tomorrow "

"Yeah," Barber said as he gathered his stuffs. Auggie accompanied him to the door.

"Thanks for pizza, Eric. And not just for that"

"You're welcome friend. It was a pleasure"

When he was alone, Auggie went to his bedroom, undressed and got into bed. He fell fast asleep, but a restless sleep. All interceptions he had listened to until he was exhausted echoed in his mind. And that phrase, that he already once heard in interceptions and hit him, returned forcefully in his thoughts. That phrase which spoke about flowers.

He woke up at 7 a.m. when his phone rang for a message from Barber. The metallic application voice read: "Fishing net is ready. See you at the office "

Auggie smiled, he knew he had a valuable ally in Erick. He had a fast shower, he dressed and left the house heading Langley, while the same thought always took over his mind: what clashed in those interceptions? In particular, one passage had caught his attention: why, whether they were involved in Malian guerrilla, were some Berbers talking about the weather and about the beauty of some flowers?


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

They arrived in Taoudenni's oasis seven days ago but still nobody talked about leaving so Jedjiga understood that the departure was not imminent.

She was grateful for this time. Not having to travel in the desert soothed her. Of course, the desert had its charm, but it was still a treacherous place. The Abu-Mokhammed's tribe used to travel early in the day then they camped and left again in the late afternoon, according to the custom of many Berber tribes, because, travel during the hottest hours of the day could be dangerous.

Since they had arrived to the oasis, Jedjiga had got into the habit of taking long walks, always accompanied by Lila.

Over the last days, in the oasis other nomadic tribes had arrived and often in the evening the men were all together to talk about their journeys, their businesses or just to exchange greetings, being perhaps distant relatives. Then everyone returned into the area within the oasis where the tribe had its camp. The tribal chiefs are often found together to speak of the political situation in the country. Jedjiga sometimes caught a few sentences of their speech and she began to get an idea of the problems that Mali was going through. During one of her walks, she had come behind the tent of Abu-Mokhammed and she heard voices inside, voices that she did not know; they spoke in French so she stopped to listen, although she could not hear everything they said because they spoke in a low voice. This had already become her suspicious. What she had heard alerted. She tried to leave the tent without a sound; from that day, during her walks with Lila, she began to feel observed. She continued to act as if nothing had happened, but her senses became very receptive: she caught furtive glances, nods of the head, hands moving in particular ways as if it was a secret language. As if that were not enough, she had noticed that several people came and went in the tent of Abu-Mokhammed, when he was not there.

One evening, while she dined with Lila and her family, Dassin came up with two rather young men.

"Ghumer, Khennuj" the woman greeted "sorry to trouble your evening, but the sons of Abu-Mokhammed insisted to know Jedjiga"

" _Tesedan_ , my lady," Ghumer said standing up out of respect "my tent is your home. Sit. The tea is ready"

Lila had gone to get cups for guests. It was the custom of the desert people to be extremely hospitable and sharing tea was a gesture of respect for those who came to visit.

"Jedjiga" said Dassin "these are Mebruk and Yebraim, sons of Abu-Mokhammed and his deceased first wife, Fatma"

Jedjiga stood up and noticed that Dassin seemed quite nervous and embarrassed. She did not look directly at the two men until they spoke directly to her.

"Your name is suitable for you" Yebraim said to her. Jedjiga nodded her head in thanks, but she did not say a word. Dassin looked at her, then she looked down and pulled an imperceptible sigh of relief. Jedjiga knew: she had to pretend to be silent with them also.

"Actually we know that is not your real name," Mebruk said "our father told us how you were found, that you are a foreigner and that you've lost your memory"

Jedjiga nodded again. They were speaking in French so that she could understand them. They sat with the Ghumer's family and they had been drinking tea that was offered to them. They chatted for a few minutes with Ghumer then Dassin motioned to get up.

"Well, we leave you to your meal," the woman said trying to take the two young men away from the tent of Ghumer. "Yes sure. I hope to talk again to you, Jedjiga." Mebruk added smiling. She nodded again and she noticed that the young man's smile seemed very forced.

When they had gone, a multitude of thoughts began to swirl in Jedjiga's head. The voices of those two guys, to begin with, were the same voices she had heard in the tent of Abu-Mokhammed when he was absent, but a person was missing, perhaps a friend. Then, the fact that they wanted to meet her had upset her a little "Who knows why they wanted to meet me" wondered Jedjiga.

In the following days, during her walks, she tried to remain far from Mebruk and Yebraim, although she felt their eyes on. She was glad that Lila was always with her, at least she could respond in her place and, anyway, no matter what the two guys had in mind, they would not do anything in front of the young girl.

During one of the following afternoons, Ghumer and other tribesmen had killed some sheep and women were working wool and skins. Jedjiga and Lila were told to go to the well to fetch water and had already made the trip several times. In one of those coming and going from tent to the well, Jedjiga discovered who the person was that she had often heard talk with Mebruk and Yebraim. She recognized the voice almost instantly, but she pretended not to notice so she looked inconspicuous. She wanted to know who he was and why they always spoke in the absence of Abu-Mokhammed. She stayed more than necessary at the well with Lila, trying to invent other signs to make credible her silence, but her attention was all on the three men talking nearby.

"The required load will be ready in few days" said the man.

"Well, you'll get your money when we have checked the goods." Yebraim said.

"I will send a message to my provider to make sure of the date and time of delivery."

"It is a pleasure doing business with you, _monsieur_ Garrett" The three said goodbye and parted

" _So_ " thought Jedjiga " _he_ _speaks French,_ _but_ _he_ _has_ _an English name_ _._ _Perhaps_ _American_ _._ _And_ _what kind of_ _goods_ _are?_ " she resolved to find out more. She tried to follow them with her eyes: Yebraim and Mebruk stopped at one of the stalls of the oasis, while the stranger went into the tourist caravan that had arrived a couple days before. Mr. Garrett mingled with the crowd of tourists and for a few days she would not have seen him.

However, among the tourists, three other men caught the attention of the young woman. They spoke English, most likely American, taking photographs to people and objects of every kind and they asked a lot of questions. Too many questions, in fact, for being ordinary tourists. Jedjiga decided it was better not to attract attention, so she covered her face with her veil and turned off by the tourists' caravan.

The following morning she went to the well, followed by Lila. She was filling the bucket when a strong hand grabbed the rope that she was pulling.

"Let me help you" it was one of three tourists who she had noticed the day before. Jedjiga looked down and nodded in thanks.

"May I ask what your name is?"

"She does not speak, she is dumb" said Lila.

Jedjiga did not answer and she continued to keep her eyes lowered.

"Oh, I'm sorry" the man replied. Meanwhile Khennuj arrived and looked at him sternly.

"I did not want to embarrass you, I apologize. Can I ask your names?"

"Can I ask why you want to know?" Khennuj asked in turn.

"I'm a journalist. I took many pictures and I am preparing an article for my newspaper. I wish to match the names to the faces that I photographed."

The suspicious look of Berber woman does not escape to the man "You are not obliged, of course" he said

"Good" replied Khennuj. Then she turned to Lila and Jedjiga: "Let's go, my daughters"

" _In_ _one way or another_ _I'll know_ _your names_ " the man thought while the women and the child were leaving.

The opportunity came the next day when he saw a group of children that were playing and, among them, he recognized the girl who accompanied the woman at the well

He walked over and began to talk to them. It was not easy because they did not understand much French.

" _Je_ _suis_ _Jack_ " he said, clapping a hand on his chest. The kids had fun watching him. Within a few hours he knew their names and had learned some of their games. He met up with them for a couple of days, during which he had learned at least the name of the mute woman.

"Now I just have to make me a picture" he announced to one of his traveling companions

"Jack, do you think she is...?"

"I do not know Ethan. However if we can send a photo in Langley, certainly they will tell us who she is. Certainly she does not belong to these people, although she dresses and behaves like them"

Ethan nodded "In two or three days our caravan starts to Agadez. There we will meet the rest of our team. Maybe Calder Michaels has some news about that"

"The radio silence is really a problem. Well, we will inform Mike. Who knows that one of the three of us is unable to photograph the foreign girl"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The sun was high in the sky and the heat in the desert could be really hard to tolerate. Jack, Ethan and Mike were sitting in front of their tent; as they were talking, they noticed two Tuareg getting close to a nearby tent, get in and get out after about ten minutes accompanied by a third man, a Westerner.

"They don't have the bag that they had when they entered." remarked Ethan. For trained spies such as they were, that could mean everything and nothing, but the instinct told them to check.

"I'll go for a walk" said Mike, getting up "I need to stretch my legs. Do you come with me, Jack?"

"Why not? I've eaten a lot, so a bit of movement is what I need."

"See you later" Ethan said "I'll go under the palm trees to read a bit" Once at the palm trees near the well, he opened his book, took from his pocket his iPod, he put on his headphones and started to read. Actually, the iPod was a sophisticated system of microphones that could pick up sounds up to a hundred meters away.

The two Berbers and Western passed close to him, but Ethan ignored them deliberately, trying, however, to pay close attention to what they said.

The two Tuareg were the sons of the tribe chief Abu-Mokhammed, with whom he had talked a few days earlier about the Malian political situation posing as a journalist. Berber was a well-informed person of the facts but he was not interested in intervening in the guerrilla war that went on in the country for years. He was a peaceful man, and he hoped that the meeting of the Peace that was being held in Algiers in those days could be resolved the situation.

"You've got the money, now we want the goods." Mebrouk said.

Ethan did not want to attract attention, he had to be able to listen without being detected. He pretended to be asleep.

"Goods are coming. The van awaits us a few kilometers outside the oasis, to the North."said the Western

"Good, _monsieur_ Garrett" Yebraim replied, "let's go see." The three men went away quickly, and Ethan, quickly, sent a message to his colleagues. He was not sure what could be the goods they talked about, but being able to do a background check would not be bad. At the same time the Mike's phone rang: it was a declassified number of DPD.

"Mike Donovan. Who's talking?"

"Hi Mike. I am Andrew Hollman. Are you still in Taoudenni? "

"Yup. We should start in a couple of days."

"Tomorrow the Calder Michaels' convoy should arrive. You will meet there in Taoudenni."

"Well, their arrival is providential."

"Any news?" Andrew asked curiously.

"Maybe. Checking some rumors that we heard. However once we have definite information, we'll let you know."

"Do you have your computer equipment?"

"Not everything, indeed. We left several things to Michaels before we divided into two teams."

"Ok, then we update tomorrow. We have created a masked control network for a number of interceptions and we need a mobile station, which further hides the signal that acts like an owl in case our communications were detected" While Mike spoke, Jack showed him a picture he had just taken: he was able to photograph Jedjiga without the veil even though the shot was rather far.

"Andrew" Mike said "We need to send a photo for facial recognition. You'll have to work on it a little because we could not get too close, so it may be a little fuzzy."

"Okay, Mike. I'll see what I can do. Barber and I will work there at lunchtime then we send the image to Anderson for ... "

"Anderson?" Interrupted Mike " _Auggie_ Anderson?"

"Yes, that's him."

"So he returned. Good! " Mike said satisfied.

"Well Mike, it's all for now. If there is no urgency we hear tomorrow."

Mike hung up and looked at Jack, smiling "You owe me $ 100 my friend. Auggie Anderson is back to the base."

"But it's been two years." protested Jack.

"No matter, we did not set a time. You owe me $ 100."

"Stingy!" Jack retorted.

"You don't know to lose, my friend!" laughed Mike.

They had reached Ethan and, together, they had headed to North of the oasis. Outside the oasis, in Taoudenni there was not much to see: the salt mines, the ruins of an abandoned prison and little else. They tried to avoid being seen as they followed Mebruk and his companions.

In a few minutes a van escorted by two SUVs came. Mebruk and Yebraim immediately opened the back of the van and checked the boxes one by one; they contained weapons.

"It seems that there is everything _monsieu_ r Garrett." said Yebraim

"I am as good as my word" smiled Garrett.

"That's how it seems. However I have yet to understand why you took so long to let us have the goods. You said twenty days, when we met in Timbuktu, but it has gone twice. This is not _to be as good as one's word_ , mon ami."

"Blowing up a caravan to steal the weapons is not something that goes unnoticed, my friends. Some people are died in that ambush, some of them were Americans. I'm still wanted, I had to move very cautiously."

The two brothers nodded. They made a brief phone call and in few minutes a second van driven by a young Tuareg came. They transshipped weapons, then Mebruk and Yebraim greeted Garrett and returned to the camp.

Ethan, Jack and Mike had heard enough. Now the various pieces of the puzzle were fitting in. They were also able to take pictures of Garrett and two brothers that they immediately sent to Langley.

It was already dark when Mike got a call from Hollman. He got up, he started to walk and took the phone call.

"Hey, Mike."

"Andrew. Any news?"

"Yes, well ... the photos that you sent us ... we were able to identify the three men: the two young men are Tuareg activists; they have already reported to the Malian security forces for arms trafficking and jihadist guerrillas support. The third man is Samuel Garrett, aka Lewis Ashton, aka Vincent Deveraux, aka Dimitri Diachkov, ex KGB's activist and spy."

"Therefore, he is known all over the world." said Mike.

"We have already warned Calder Michaels of his presence in Taoudenni."

"Any news about the woman?"

"Not yet. Barber is working on the image to make it sharper and to clear it of the background. We update later."

Mike stopped and began to observe the sky. On the horizon, the sun was a pearlescent sphere that tinged dunes and the air of a bright red. The sky gradually faded in the warm shades of orange-yellow up to the purplish blue of the night. The first stars began to shine timidly and they grew brighter as the sun went down over the horizon, and darkness took over.

While in Taoudenni the night grew, in Washington it was broad daylight. Although it was October, it was a warm and sunny day.

In Langley offices the morning was spent rather quickly for Andrew Hollman and Eric Barber who were working on interceptions from Mali. They had also received pictures of people to identify. The Calder Michaels' Bravo team was collecting different information, among which the sale of weapons by Samuel Garrett to Berber guerrillas had received all the Joan's attention. For lunch-break they had a particular job: to make a picture as clear as possible so that they could make the identification through facial recognition. Mike Donovan had confessed to Hollman he thought she was Annie Walker. But now, before talking aout that to Auggie, they had to be certain.

Eric had begun, pixel after pixel, to work on the picture, clearing her face from the background and redefining contours.

"Hey, Barber! Do not we have lunch today?"Auggie asked looking out from his office.

"Yes, give me 10 minutes to settle two things and let's go."

"It's already 2.30p.m." remarked Auggie.

"Yeah. Come on, the program can work alone" Barber turned off the audio of the PC, he took the sweatshirt, gave his arm to Auggie and they left. Eric said nothing about woman's picture to his friend, he did not want to give him false hopes.

They sat at a table a little isolated in the Agency's canteen, they ordered and tried to talk about this and that.

"Can I make you a question, boss?"

Auggie nodded.

"Have you heard Natasha?"

"No. She does not call, and I do not call. We did not leave in a friendly way, perhaps we need time. Both of us."

The Auggie's phone rang and he answered "Anderson."

"This is Hollman. Is Barber with you? "

"Yes, why?"

"We just received a cable with important information. It'd be better if you go back to the office, Joan has called a meeting."

They paid quickly and quickly returned to the upper floors of Langley. As they entered in the DPD's office they saw that Joan had already arrived.

"In the meeting room in five minutes" she said.

Barber approached Hollman "I left my PC on to clean the picture." he said "I'm going to see how's going and come back. See to Auggie" Hollman nodded.

Auggie heard Barber get away "Hollman where is Barber going?" he asked.

"He gets his laptop. He had left the translator on and he wants to check if there is news." Andrew lied.

Auggie nodded, took the elbow of his friend and they headed to the monitor zone.

"Well, I see that we're all here" Joan began. "This morning we received some photos from Calder Michaels' Bravo team. The photos you see are of two Berber brothers, Medruk and Yebraim Abu-Mokhammed. They are two activists who traffic weapons to support the jihadist insurgency in Mali. Currently they are in Taoudenni and they picked up a load of weapons"Joan paused and looked at all the men in front of her. "The third man is Dimitri Diachkov, ex KGB's activist and spy, now wanted terrorist in Europe, the USA and Asia. Dimitri Diachkov, aka Samuel Garrett, aka Lewis Ashton, aka Vincent Deveraux, was seen today with Mebruk and Yebraim while providing them a load of weapons of which we do not know with certainty the origin. Calder's men who are in Taoudenni cannot move too quickly so as not to blow their cover, but they managed to know that Diachkov stole the weapons to a caravan holding out an ambush. Tomorrow Calder Michaels will reach his men and then we can plan to do. Meanwhile Hollman and Barber worked with McQuaid Security to bring Ryan in the United States. His condition is quite critical but Dr. Justin Muller, our operative, remained at the MSF field to coordinate his return with the US Embassy and to assure him all the needed medical care."

"When does he come, Joan?" Auggie asked.

"In a couple of days at most. He will be rushed to Memorial Hospital."

"Ma'am" Hollman interrupted with surprised voice.

"Yes, Hollman?"

"Annie Walker's credit card has been used in Rabat, Morocco. The banking system has alerted us right now."

"Rabat?" Joan asked in astonishment, "What is Annie doing in Morocco?"

"Do we have the video footage of the place where she used the card?" Auggie asked.

"Negative. It is a small gift shop with no CCTV circuit. "

"Nothing even by street cameras?"

"No Auggie, nothing at this time."

Barber had come just in time to hear the words of Hollman.

"It's impossible" said Eric "Annie is in Taoudenni. Mike's picture is clear."

"Barber are you sure?" Joan asked. Eric did not have time to answer that Auggie was already in front of his laptop "Give me the file, Eric" he ordered. He inserted the flash drive, opened the _Hummingbird_ software and the response was unequivocal: the metallic voice said " _Anne Catherine Walker_ "

Auggie's hands began to shake and tears came to his eyes.

It was her, was Annie. And she was alive. Nothing else mattered at that moment.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Joan looked affectionately at Auggie, She knew what he was feeling at the moment: so strong and conflicting emotions in your heart, when you know that the person you love is still alive, can overpower you. Yes, Joan knew that, because she felt the same fears and the same relief when Arthur had been targeted by Henry Wilkox's henchmen and he survived. She approached Auggie and put a hand on his shoulder.

"She is alive, Joan. Annie's alive." Auggie said, his voice charged with emotion.

"Yes, Auggie. And it's already a lot, don't you think?"

He nodded. At that moment a thought crossed his mind.

"Don't even think about that, Auggie!" Joan said, lowering her voice, as if she had been able to read in his mind.

"Joan..."

"Absolutely no! I know what you're thinking. Forget it! I will not send you to Africa. Especially since we haven't yet definite information."

"Joan I want to know, I HAVE to know." Said Auggie, his voice breaking.

"I know how you feel, believe me. I felt the same anxiety, the same fear and the same relief when Arthur was in danger and survived. But I cannot afford to jeopardize your life."

Joan turned to DPD agents and her Task Force who were still in the room waiting for orders. "This is all for now, gentlemen. We update tomorrow."

All left but Barber to which Joan had mentioned to wait.

"It's because I'm blind, right?"

"August Anderson, you know I have the highest regard for you and full confidence in your abilities." Joan said flatly, then further she lowered her voice so that only he could hear "And yes. Your blindness can be fatal to you, in the desert. Auggie, it is one infinite space, you would not have any resounding reference point that can help you. In such large open spaces you'd not find anything to orient yourself. I want to know you're safe, Auggie. I'd hate to know you're in danger because of my thoughtless. You cannot ask me to put at risk other operatives' lives to your own desire. And then I have strict orders to respect."

Auggie nodded, basically he understood her concern.

"And now, Auggie, if you'll excuse me, I have to coordinate men to give any help to Calder so that he brings Annie home, safe and sound."

"Joan... don't cut me out." he pleaded.

"Well, I know an excellent tech operative that could help in keeping contact with Calder's team. Do you think he will accept?" she asked. Auggie caught her smile in her voice and smiled back.

"Yes, I think so, Joan. He'll accept for sure."

"Well, Mr. Anderson. Let's get to work."

Joan, Auggie and Eric returned to their own offices: they now had reliable information on which to work.

It had been just over an hour from meeting at the DPD when Hollman turned to Barber an email received from Mike Donovan.

 _This afternoon Jack Drummond got some news about Berber woman. It seems certain that she doesn't belong to Berber tribes with which she travels. She was found dying by a tribal girl in a convoy attacked by the guerrillas, but we don't know where. The Berbers call her Jedjiga._

 _That's all for now._

 _M.D._

When Eric read the email, his gaze stopped on the woman's name. It was something familiar, but he could not remember where he could have already seen that word.

Meanwhile, Auggie received by email from Hollman a new wiretap transcription. He opened the file but it was in Tamazight, the language spoken by Berbers. He called one of Agency interpreters because can translate the transcription and he waited patiently with Eric in front of the coffee distributor.

" Mr Anderson?"

"Yes."

"Hello, I am Maya Foster, the interpreter you requested"

"Welcome." Auggie said "Come this way."

Auggie took his coffee and accompanied the girl to his office; they passed in front of the Eric's desk where on his PC monitor the email text was still open.

"Oh, what a beautiful name." Maya said. The girl saw that the two men, each in their own way, were watching her and she blushed slightly.

"Excuse me, I inadvertently read the name written in that mail." she said, indicating the Barber's PC monitor. "I'm so used to read in Tamazight and Tamashek that I recognize words right away. Tamazight is the Berber language." Maya explained seeing the questioning look of Barber "While the Tamashek is the Tuareg language. Actually, we could almost call it a Tamazight's dialect."

"You said that it's a beautiful name, can I ask why?" Barber asked.

"In Berber language _Jedjiga_ means _flower._ It's a common thing in many languages, giving flowers name to the people."

A thought crossed the mind of Auggie.

"Barber, can you read the email, please?"

Eric read it.

"What woman does the email mean?"

"I really think that it talks about Annie. It refers to woman in the photo that Calder's men sent us this morning."

In the Auggie's head began to take shape some assumptions.

"If Annie calls herself _Jedjiga_ and _jedjga_ means flower..." Auggie grabbed the arm of his friend. "Do you remember the intercepts? In many of them they talk about flowers. I think they refer to a flower in particular..."

"Annie." concluded Barber.

"Yes, Annie" Auggie had a strange premonition. "Come, Maya. I need you to translate this last interception I received. It may contain important information."

They entered the office of Auggie and the girl sat down at the computer, listened to the audio file a couple of times and then translated.

"The weather is conducive to hiking. The sun will accompany our journey. We already have the luggage ready. The cargo was shipped. We will bring a flower as a gift to our guests."

"Is that all?" Auggie asked.

"Yes, that's all that is there." said Maya.

"What can it mean, Auggie?"

"I dunno. Surely nothing good, at least for Annie."

"Could I hear the other interceptions?" Maya asked "Sometimes one word can have several meanings and if it is translated in approximate manner, this can change the way a whole speech."

"Do you speak Berber well?" Eric asked curiously.

"Yes, my maternal great-grandmother belonged to a Berber tribe in Nigeria. She married an American man during World War II and moved here in the US. Many Berber tribes are matriarchal then women are who orally transmit the traditions and culture of the tribe and the language. So great-grandmother taught it to my grandmother who in turn taught it to my mother and me. Mom and I speak Tamashek at home, especially since my father died."

"Sorry." Eric said. Maya smiled.

"If it is possible I'd like the interception in original language." Auggie nodded, opened the files from the archive of his hard drive and let Maya listen to them.

"There are several files." Maya said "It will take a lot. Do you have a clear desk?"

"You can use mine." offered Barber

Auggie turned to his friend and smirked: evidently Maya was a beautiful girl.

"While you work on wiretapping, I will speak with Joan. We must inform her of what we have learned."

He left the two at work and headed to the office of Joan." Auggie, I was going to come to you."

"Any news?"

"I think so. But if you are here, you also have some."

"I asked an interpreter for the last detected interception. I think Annie could be used as a bargaining chip for something."

"Are you sure?"

"No it's just a hunch. Maya wanted to listen to all the recordings; she knows very well the Berber language and perhaps could improve the translations that we have."

"As soon as Calder will meet his men, he will get in touch with us. We received an Intel by the DGSE, the French secret services, in which they say that their armed forces are being organized to conduct large-scale military operation in northern Mali by the end of the month "Joan looked at Auggie and saw on his face all the anxiety he was feeling "We need to move quickly but carefully, Auggie. There are bigger things at stake than us. We cannot intervene in a foreign country without the support of local government or of ours."

"Yeah." said Auggie "And this is a ghost operation, right?"

"Not completely." Joan admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"Before I called you in Indonesia, Calder had been commissioned from the upper floors to investigate the bombing of the McQuaid's convoy because there were involved some American citizens. When he learned that the escort was organized by Ryan he wanted me involved in the transaction, bypassing the orders received. The Heads of Langley have not taken it well."

"I guess." laughed Auggie.

"They have given me the DPD as suggested by Calder, provided that I do not send anyone of my men on the field. But I can take advantage of them to complete the operation successfully."

"Yeah," Auggie touched his watch, it was 6:30 in the evening, this meant that they were in Mali 10:30 p.m.

Even Joan looked the time "Go home Auggie, get rest. If there are no hitches, Calder will reach his men to Taoudenni tomorrow at noon local time. This means that before 8 a.m. tomorrow we will not have any contact with him."

"You should rest, too, you have a tired voice."

"Yes." she confirmed "I'll go home too. Arthur has brought McKenzie to his grandparents and they will return for 8. Come on, I'll give you a ride."

Joan and Auggie left the office and headed to the elevators. They could hear the voices of Eric and Maya, who were still working on interceptions. Joan looked at the two guys: they were so caught up by the work that they did not notice Joan and Auggie.

"Eric." called Joan "We're going home. If you need, please feel free to call me."

"To call US." corrected Auggie.

Auggie and Joan made their way to the parking, they got into car and left Langley. The journey was rather quiet. Joan looked at his friend: he seemed to have lost weight in recent weeks and on his face she could see all the pressure.

"Auggie..."

"I'm fine, Joan. Stop worrying."

"I cannot do that. You've lost weight and have bruised eyes, a sign that you eat too little and don't sleep well."

"I'll be fine, in a bit. Bring her home and I'll be fine." he sighed and leaned back against the seat.

"We do not know anything about her, in those two years."

"Yes, I thought about it, but I do not care now. What I want is to know she is at home, safe. Then everything will be settled."

Joan stopped the car next to Auggie's apartment building.

"She could not love you like you love her. You know, do you?" Joan said suddenly.

Auggie took a deep breath, he nodded and got out "Thanks for the ride."

In that moment their phones rang. Auggie got back into the car and they returned to Langley.


	13. Chapter 13

_**At first, I've to apologize for my English, but I'm not a native language. I've translate this chapter but nobody has corrected it. Usually, there is a dear friend of mine that does it, but she is so busy because of her job and I don't want her to feel overwhelmed. So, if you find grammar mistake in reading my story, please let me know.**_

 _ **Of course, I do not own**_ _ **the characters of**_ _ **CA**_ _ **,**_ _ **except some**_ _ **secondary**_ _ **character**_ _ **that helped me**_ _ **to write**_ _ **my story**_ _ **.**_ _ **I hope you enjoy**_ _ **reading it**_ _ **;**_ _ **let me**_ _ **know**_ _ **your comments**_ _ **,**_ _ **they are an incentive**_ _ **to keep on writing**_ _ **.**_ _ **Thank you**_

Chapter 13

Lila suddenly woke up. Jedjiga slept, but complains a lot, obviously she was dreaming something that bothered her. The little girl watched her worried.

 _"I'm sorry."_

 _"It's not_ _your fault_ _,_ _come back home._ _"_

 _"I cannot."_

In her dream, Jedjiga was calling someone, while she was in an elevator. Then the elevator stopped, the doors opened, she drew her gun and fired. At the same time also the man in front of her shot. She fell to the ground.

 _"She's dead._ _Operative_ _Walker_ _is dead_ _._ _"_

Jedjiga suddenly woke up and put her hands to her chest. She was dreaming, but everything had seemed so real. What if it really happened? Through the thin fabric of her dress she wore for the night, under the fingers she felt the scar on her chest. Maybe ... it could be the scar caused by a gunshot. Maybe it was just that man in the dream to shoot. But why would he do that?

 _"_ _The_ _operative_ _Walker_ _is dead._ _"_

The words bounce in her head ... _operative_ _Walker_... they seemed important, very important to her, but she still did not clear why.

Lila was sitting next to her as she looked worried.

" _Tesednan_ ... Are you okay?"

"Yes, Lila, I'm fine. It was just a bad dream."

Jedjiga focused on those words: _Operative Walker_. Why did they seem familiar?

Lila watched her for a long time and Jedjiga noticed it: she embraced her to calm and stroked her hair.

"Go back to sleep, Lila. Don't worry."

They lay side by side and fell asleep again.

The next morning, there was some turmoil in the oasis: another caravan of tourists was coming.

Each tribe in Taoudenni's oasis was rather busy: the presence of tourists meant increasing sales of small handicrafts and, for nomadic populations, this was a decent livelihood.

The caravan arrived around noon. The children surrounded cars and dromedaries, curious to see the newcomers which often wore small objects to give them.

Jedjiga smiled observing the scene from Ghumer and Khennuj tent.

"Children seem very curious." remarked Jedjiga.

"Tourists always bring some small gift for them: pens, small toys, colors..." Khennuj said.

Husband and wife went back into the tent and Jedjiga followed them ready to help Khennuj in setting up a simple stall to sell her own items. Khennuj was a clever leather tanner: with leather she produced bags, wallets, necklaces and bracelets. To these she often added silver or aluminum pendants that her husband and her brother cleverly chiseled. In recent weeks, Jedjiga had often stopped to observe how these craftsmen's hands moved skillfully creating objects quickly and accurately.

The crowd of tourists was scattering throughout the oasis, observing all that nomadic tribes put on sale. Jedjiga watched with curiosity and amazement: it seemed like a real _souk_ , where colors and scents of goods and the confused voices of sellers and buyers, that treated on prices, mingled vividly. It seemed that she had already gone through similar moments and, in a flash, she saw herself in Marrakech.

" _Perhaps_ _I can_ _begin to remember_." she thought but she was afraid that dreams could be just dreams and not fragments of her past.

As soon as the tourists of the new caravan had arrived, the guides showed them how and where to store their belongings for the next four or five days. Then they were left free to browse among the stalls.

From his tent, Mike watched quietly the newcomers until he met _casually_ the look of one of them: now the team was fully booked. They just need to be reunited as soon as possible to exchange the information collected.

They met _casually_ a few times: near a stall selling necklaces and bracelets, then back to the salt mines, then again in the evening during dinner.

It was during the dinner organized for tourists that Mike, Ethan and Jack could finally talk with their boss, Calder Michaels. Calder informed Mike and the rest of the team what they had discovered in Timbuktu.

"So Ryan is alive." Ethan concluded.

"Yes, but it is still kept in an induced coma. Justin will be back with him in the United States, to assure him all the medical care."said Calder" If there are no hitches, in a couple of days should be able to get to the Memorial Hospital in Washington."

Ethan nodded thoughtfully.

"Have you got news?" Calder asked.

"Yes, we have." Mike said, looking carelessly around but watching carefully everyone around him. A Calder did not escape the eyes of Mike on all tourists present, and he realized that it was not the right time to continue the conversation. So they concentrated on the food that was served them, on the latest political events in Mali and on the US economy.

Mike stood up and headed toward one of the benches where they served the _mechoui_ , a dish made with mutton cooked in a special oven. He also took the _couscous_ with vegetables and exchanged a few words with one of the tourists that was there. Calder and the rest of the group watched their companion.

"The man with whom Mike speaks is an arms dealer and former KGB spy," Ethan said softly to Calder.

Serving him some wine, Jack indicated to Calder an area where there were the tents of a Berber tribes.

"Yesterday two men of that Berber tribe have had a contact for a load of weapons with the man with whom Mike's talking."

"Do we know who they are?"

Jack nodded "We have received from Langley all the files they have about 'em."

"Calder, you should talk with the chief of that tribe." said Ethan "The two Berbers are his sons, but I don't think that he is aware of what they do. Also you might find interesting to know their guest."

Calder looked questioningly Ethan and Ethan pointed out a woman who at that time was approaching to food banks with a child. The woman's face was hidden by a veil, but her eyes ... Calder Michaels recognized her immediately. So she was alive: Annie Walker was alive.

Calder began to stare at her and to follow her with his eyes. She was gesticulating a lot with the little girl, as if they were using some kind of secret code.

"She's dumb." Ethan interjected, sensing the Calder's thought "Or at least so they say the Berbers that give shelter to her. She's been saved in the attack on the caravan, perhaps because guerrillas thought she was dead. The girl found her under the sheets of a convoy's Jeep."

"Have you made contact with her?"

"Negative, chief. Jack tried to approach her but her host family makes a circle around her."

"We should find a way. Maybe talking to the tribal chief ... However, after dinner I will get in contact with Langley to establish an action protocol. We meet in my quarters in a couple of hours."

When the team gathered in the small house placed at Calder's disposal, the men began to lay out all their equipment and soon the living room became an operative base.

It was a little past 10 p.m. in Taoudenni, then at Langley offices were still in business.

"Sir, we are able to make a video call, now the satellite's reception is good"

"Good" said Calder "Jack and Mike, you keep an eye on things outside. You do know the oasis and now the Berbers know you. Surely you don't attract attention." The two men went out.

"Ethan, I want the details of what you have learned in recent days. Bryan, put me in communication with Langley as soon as possible." Bryan took only a few minutes to activate the connection, the time that Ethan needed to inform him about the Intel received from DPD.

"Calder, Joan Campbell is on line" Bryan said.

"Good evening, Joan."

"Calder. Any news? "

"Not much at the moment. The guys handed me all the information that you have given them about Garrett and the two Berber activists. Tomorrow morning I will speak to the chief of their tribe to try to figure out how much he knows about this arms trafficking. Any new about McQuaid? "

"Justin has contacted his own handler in DPD. Their return flight will depart tomorrow morning at 8.00 local time with the Agency's private jet. The journey will be quite long because air routes involve a stopover in Paris."

"Good, so if there are no hitches they should arrive in Washington the same day."

"Calder ..." Joan did not complete the question but Calder guessed it.

"Yes, Joan. I saw her but I have not spoken to her. She's fine. If we can, tomorrow we will try to set a contact to understand what's going on. The Berbers say she is dumb."

"Dumb?" Joan asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I'll have to check. However, Joan, wait I have reliable information before talking to Anderson. It is useless to worry him by no means."

"Sure, Calder. He will still be happy to know that she's okay. We all are."

"We update tomorrow." so saying, Calder hung up.

A few minutes later Jack and Mike returned from their tour.

"Calder, I think that waiting tomorrow may be too late." said Jack.

"We believe that Garrett suspects something." Mike continued "He seems disappeared from the oasis along with his two Berber companions. There is a strange movement around the tents of their tribe."

"Okay guys, then we move. Ethan and I go to talk to the tribal chief. You collect our things and get in contact with the DPD because they organize a team for our withdrawal if things go bad."


	14. Chapter 14

_**Ok, guys. Here I am. Another chapter uploaded. I've to apologize for my mistake. As you know, I'm not a native English language and, again, I'm trying to translate my story by myself. No one corrected it. So, please, lemme know if something is not clear. I'm waiting for your reviews. I really need 'em to continue my story.**_

Chapter 14

When Calder hung up, the office of Joan fell silent. Annie was alive and she was fine, but she could be dumb. Maybe it was a consequence of the attack suffered by the convoy with which she was traveling. Or was it just a cover? Joan was so absorbed by her thoughts that she didn't hear a knock.

"Joan, are you alright?" Auggie's voice brought her at present.

"Auggie. Yes, all right. I just talked to Calder. His task force came together only a few hours ago. Operatives who were already at Taoudenni updated him about the Intel we've sent them this morning. They are organizing a meeting for tomorrow morning with the chief of the Berber tribe that the two young activists belong."

"Joan ..." Auggie interrupted.

"Yes, Calder saw Annie but he's not been able to speak. She's fine."

Auggie nodded and smiled, a smile so warm and alive that warmed Joan's heart. He left Joan's office, went to his desk and took up his things. Barber looked at him and, for the first time since Auggie was back in Washington, he saw him serene.

"Are you ok, man?"

"Yes, Eric. It's all right. I need to get out and walk a little. I think I will go home."

"See you tomorrow."

Walking in the park around Langley, Auggie seemed to breathe easier. Autumn was stripping the trees, a light drizzle was falling and the air was heavy with moisture. It was quite cold as October drew to a close. But Auggie did not notice the cold and the rain. He felt his heart full of emotions but light at the same time. Annie was fine and soon, one way or another, she'd come back in Washington. And this thought took him up to his place, warming his soul. It was not much, but at the moment it was enough.

Calder organized the meeting with the tribal chief, planning everything in the best way because nothing could go wrong. He didn't know the man, nor knew whether or not he was involved in the trafficking of his sons, so he had to be ready for any possibility. Ethan had already headed for the Berber camp to ask to speak with Abu-Mokhammed; He was ushered into a room in a low building with whitewashed brick. The floor was covered with carpets, on which were placed cushions and low stools. Immediately after Ethan, the tribal chief and some men came in the room.

" _Was-salam'alaykum_ " Ethan said, speaking to Abu-Mokhammed.

" _Wa Alaikum As-salam_ " Abu-Mokhammed answered "You have asked to speak to me. How can I help you?"

"A few days ago you talked to a my travel companion."

"Yes, the American journalist."

"There is another my travel companion who would like to talk to you, if you grant."

"You were just three until yesterday. This evening I saw that you were more."

"Yes, Abu-Mokhammed. The other people with whom you have seen us, are colleagues, they have joined us today." Ethan noticed that the Berber chief did not use many words and he decided to do the same. If he wanted to get information he had to be honest.

"So you all are American journalists?"

"Not all of us, actually."

"Is it about politics?"

"Not exactly. One of the men who joined us is our leader." Ethan looked around. Abu-Mokhammed nodded to men who accompanied him and they went out.

"Now you can speak freely, American" Berber man said.

"We are journalists working for an US Government Agency. We need to give you and ask you some informations about the attack in Timbuktu, two months ago."

"Government Agency?" The Berber chief asked.

"Yes. In that attack some Americans died. Our government has sent us to investigate."

"Now I understand all your questions and your way of acting. I have my informers." Abu-Mokhammed smiled to Ethan "I'll meet your commander."

Ethan nodded, left the room and went to call Calder.

" _Was-salam'alaykum_ " Calder said, going into the Abu-Mohammed seating.

" _Wa Alykum As-slam_ ," the Berber chief answered.

"Thanks for seeing me on such short notice."

"My house is your house. How can I help?"

"Two months ago, an American convoy was attacked by guerrillas jihadists in Timbuktu. It was a convoy of humanitarian aid."

"That's not what I know, my friend. Some of our sources have told us that your convoy was carrying weapons."

Calder also noted that the Berber chief was direct and spoke without beating about words.

" _Well._ " he thought " _it will be easier if I can ask direct questions_."

At that moment Dassin and Khennuj came in carrying tea and simple pastries for guests.

"Can I speak openly and frankly, Abu-Mokhammed?" Calder asked.

"I beg you. You can ask directly what you want to know, and if I can, I'll tell you everything I know."

"So you know that the convoy was carrying weapons. Do you know for whom?"

"My men have told me that weapons were directed to the French militias."

"What happened to those weapons?"

"I do not know. When my tribe arrived on the scene of the attack, there were no weapons in the wreckage of the convoy. We took the survivors to the hospital of Doctors Without Borders center instance in Timbuktu."

"Yes, I have heard and I thank you. Only two of the six wounded that you have brought to the field hospita,l survived. One of them is American. He will return to the United States tomorrow."

"I'm sorry for others." the Berber said. His voice was really sorry.

"There were other survivors?"

"Why do you ask?" Dassin intervened.

"I know that you have with you a Western woman." Calder said gently, "She could be American. Our government has sent us to recover all our countrymen." Dassin and Khennuj exchanged glances and left. Men, left alone, took tea and then started talking again.

"We have received information about a man who traffics weapons." Ethan said to the head Berber "he is a former KGB agent. He calls himself Samuel Garrett, but his real name is Dimitri Diachkov."

"Our sources have sent us pictures while he's dealing with Berber men, perhaps they belong to your tribe" added Calder.

"I do not know anything about it" Abu-Mokhammed said "Do you know who they are? Can I see these pictures?"

Ethan handed him an envelope. Abu-Mokhammed took out the photos and he was very surprised to see that portrayed his sons.

"No photomontages, right?" he asked facing Calder in a worried voice.

"No. I know you know these two guys."

"Yes. They're my sons."

"I'm sorry you have known so directly about their involvement in this guerrilla warfare."

"So you are here on behalf of the US government." the Berber chief said. Calder and Ethan nodded. "FBI? CIA? Some other government agency?"

"CIA" confirmed Calder.

"And the woman of whom you asked me?"

"What can you tell me about her?" Calder asked.

"You answer a question with another question, American." said the tribal chief "I cannot tell you much, actually. She was found by the daughter of Khennuj and Ghumer, a pair of good people. She was dying and she has not memory of her past. Khennuj took care of her and, with my wife Dassin, helped her to look like a Berber woman. Among some tribes of our people there are still forms of slavery and a Western woman is a rare commodity in these parts..." concluded Abu-Mokhammed, suggesting what fate would befall her if she had been kidnapped.

"They told me she is dumb." Ethan said.

"So it may seem. Actually, she speaks several languages." the Berber said, smiling "Now, tell me why do you ask about her?"

"We have to bring her back to the United States." said Calder.

"You still evade my question. I have been honest with you ..."

"The fact is that we're not sure why she is here, in Africa. She's been for some years a CIA agent, now we know she works for an agency that provided security services and international armed escorts. Her head is the American man who has survived among those you brought to the DWB's hospital."

In that moment Dassin and Khennuj came back followed by a third woman: she was Jedjiga. They began to pick up the trays with empty cups when Jedjiga found herself in front of Calder Michaels.

The woman was petrified and the tray fell from her hands. It was him, the man of her dream, the one who shot her in that elevator. So he was real. He was not just a dream, a figment of her imagination. That man really existed. A strangled scream came from her throat, before she fainted.


	15. Chapter 15

_**So, here I am again. Thanks so much for your support. Please, be lenient to me because of my English.**_

 _ **If you find some mistakes, please let me know. I really need your help to improve my English.**_

 _ **Love you all!**_

Chapter 15

He had taken a taxi to go home. He asked the cabbie to be left two blocks away from his apartment, he still felt the need to walk. The nervous tension of the past days had not entirely abandoned him.

Although he knew that Annie was alive, Auggie was still very concerned about her safety. And he was also concerned about the Calder Michaels team safety, because they were in a zone in which the alert for the jihadist guerrilla was always very high. To complicate matters there was also the news that soon French troops could launch an attack right in areas where they were located.

He went into his home. He was wet by the rain: a hot shower would definitely help him to warm and relax the nerves.

When he left the bathroom, he's ordered a pizza, worn a suit and begun to control the ghost network that Barber and Hollman had created a few days before.

With the help of Maya who had improved wiretaps' translations, they had been able to know that the jihadist militias were planning for an attack on the armed groups in northern Mali which had allies against the guerrillas under the guidance of a one and only military Tuareg leader. This political situation is worried both Joan and Auggie. If there were any kind of problems for their friends, they had to have ready more than a team and a plan for their extraction. As he had been told at the time by Barber, knowing that someone at McQuaid Security could have contact with groups of guerrillas, not reassured him at all, indeed. He couldn't believe that Ryan could be in league with the jihadists, but the intel that they've had the month before about Ryan's movements and about Annie's mercenaries research, left him baffled. He could think everything about Ryan and Annie, but not that they were insurgents or, worse, traitors. Or at least, not Annie; basically he didn't know Ryan so well. Why had they decided to interfere in a foreign country policy? There had to be something more behind all this, and he was very determined to find out.

While he was working on the interceptions of the ghost network, he received an email from Hollman, in which he informed him that he and Barber had been able to access some encrypted files from McQuaid Security to North Africa, Morocco to be precise.

Auggie's mind began quickly to process all the information he had, assembling piece by piece the intricate puzzle he had been working for a little over a month: first of all the intel from the DGSE, the French secret service, in which it was said that probably by the end of the month, the French army would have conducted an extensive armed operation in northern Mali, and " _probably_ " meant " _surely_ "; if this were not enough, a few days before he had received news of the confirmation of the first Ebola's case in Bamako, a town in the South-West of Mali, where also the WHO, the World Health Organization, was present.

Second, the communications' interception of jihadist fighters left it clear that they were ready to attack many places to counteract Algiers talks began a few days before, between the Bamako's government and Berbers and Tuaregs' armed groups, with the aim of restore peace in northern Mali.

According to information gathered by Calder in Nigeria, there was also to be taken into consideration that Annie and her men were recruiting mercenaries. It remained to understand why. Probably, as Joan had suggested, they were men hired just to escort humanitarian aid, because they knew well the desert places and the caravan routes along which to move. But Ryan's convoy was carrying weapons, not humanitarian aid, or at least not just those.

Auggie remembered that Annie's credit card had been used in Rabat, Morocco, and now Hollman had made him to know that there were encrypted communications from McQuaid Security right with Morocco: coincidence? Auggie didn't believe in coincidences, he was more inclined to believe that there was a connection between these events. He had to find the link. He had to act quickly but carefully. Perhaps, by contacting Barber and Hollman and working in three on the same information, they could draw the most plausible hypothesis.

Jedjiga had been rescued by everyone present. Dassin and Khennuj had arranged the cushions while Calder and Ethan had lying her gently on the carpets. Slowly the young woman recovered. In front of her she saw friendly faces of the two Berber women. What had happened? She remembered being passed out ... She had seen a man talking to Abu-Mokhammed, a man who she had recognized to be present in one of her nightmare. Therefore, it was not just a nightmare. It was something really happened.

She looked around until her eyes met those of the man.

"How are you?" Calder asked her.

"I dunno." Jedjiga replied "Do we know each other, right?"

"Yes, it's true."

"Were you that shoot me?" Jedjiga asked touching her chest right where she had scars.

"Not exactly."

"What means _not exactly_?"

"You once told me that _the truth is complicated_ , and indeed it is. The scars that you have on your chest does not depend on me. "

"But YOU shot me ..."

Calder nodded. "We'll have time to talk about it."

"So you know me?"

Calder nodded again.

Jedjiga didn't know what to think. She looked at the man straight in the eye: his eyes were worried and relieved at the same time, as if he really cared about her safety. But if it was really so, why he had shot her?

"Try to rest, Annie. Tomorrow morning we will have all the time to talk calmly about your past."

"Annie ..." repeated Jedjiga "That's my name?"

"Yup. We were colleagues for a while."

"Annie Walker ..." said Jedjiga "This is my name, then."

Ethan looked at the young woman with compassion, it would be devastating not remember anything about herself and her past.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Michaels. Calder Michaels "

Jedjiga shook his head, that name meant nothing to her. Then she looked at Ethan.

"Do I also know you?"

"No, Miss Walker. I entered the CIA a year after you left your job as operative."

Now her nightmare was beginning to make sense: she had been a CIA's operative agent and she had been killed by Calder Michaels. But it definitely was a cover, because she was still alive. So probably she had an assignment to be completed and, pretending to be dead, she could complete the mission without any hitch.

There were too many emotions all at once. In her mind gradually resurfaced dreams of recent weeks: two little girls, some gunshots in a kitchen, a red car ...

"I need to know." she said begging Calder "I'm sick of this veil that envelops my mind. I HAVE TO know who I am "

"Tomorrow, Annie. Today you have already had too many emotions. You need to rest now. We will have all the time to talk "

"No, in any case I will be not able to sleep, knowing that someone could help me to remember and refuses to do that," she scolded.

"Jedjiga, Mr. Michaels is right." Dassin said "Rest, my dear. Tomorrow you will have all the time to talk and remember."

Dassin and Khennuj had eyes bright with tears because of excitement. The fact that someone knew Jedjiga meant that she soon would be gone, back to her life. They made her drink a relaxing infused and Jedjiga soon fell asleep.

Calder and Ethan returned to their quarters.

Calder's mind now began to loosen the tension. Annie was fine, she had only lost her memory due to the attack on the convoy in which she traveled, but she was alive. The next day, Ryan would be back to the States where he would be subjected to all possible treatments. It only remained to find out if and in what way Ryan was involved in arms trafficking in favor of jihadist guerrillas.

When the other men of the team reached, Calder sent them to rest. The following day they would have to prepare the return home of Annie and to study a plan to find out if indeed Ryan was involved in arms trafficking or whatever.

Calder sent a message to Joan.

" _Annie is fine, she just lost her memory because of the attack on the convoy in which she was traveling. Let Mingus know_."

* * *

 _ **A big thank you to NoCaffein for taking my oversight. Thanks a lot!**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**I apologize, again, to those who follow me.**_ _ **But now I'm back! The long absence has various justifications, more or less plausible.**_ _ **My work and the sadness of being unable to get on the screens our program; sadness that leaves gradually place to resignation. I had stopped writing and re-read my story. I shoot for the event, only a few nights ago: I corrected some points which seemed to me to be improved and, perhaps, that little spark of nostalgia seems to have rekindled the desire to try to move forward.**_ _ **I do not know how or when I will conclude this story, but I still hope that some of you still are reading.**_

 _ **Of course, as you know, I do not own any character nor the story of Covert Affairs, except what I wrote and still write, that's all a figment of my imagination (if not for some historical and political events that actually happened).**_

Chapter 16

 _"Annie is fine, she just lost her memory because of the attack on the convoy in which she was traveling. Let Mingus know."_

He had received this message from Joan since almost 20 minutes, but he was listening for the umpteenth time.

 _"Annie is fine, she just lost her memory because of the attack on the convoy in which she was traveling. Let Mingus know."_

She was alive. And she was fine. Joan had turned the message to him as she received it from Calder, without changing a word.

 _"Annie is fine, she just lost her memory because of the attack on the convoy in which she was traveling. Let Mingus know."_

The voice player of his phone repeated again, with a metallic voice, the message content.

It almost seemed that he wanted to convince himself of its content. He decided to close the message and went back to work on the fictitious network created by his colleagues, Barber and Hollman. He sent them an email asking some technical information about network management and warning them that Calder had found Annie. In the email, he copies textually the words that Calder sent to Joan _"Annie is fine, she just lost her memory because of the attack on the convoy in which she was traveling. Let Mingus know."_

Auggie could not break away from this message. He forced himself mentally to resume his work on the artificial network when it received a notification. Someone from McQuaid Security had been in contact with a cell in Morocco. With a few steps, Auggie managed to enter the communication network they were using and to read their messages. A new notification warned him that Barber had just sent an email, he also knew of these communications. Auggie answered with a short text message telling him to join him as soon as possible with Andrew and bring all the necessary equipment to continue the monitoring from his apartment.

Things were becoming clearer.

Contacts between the McQuaid Security and Morocco had become more frequent in recent days, he had guessed from the content of wiretaps, so they had to organize themselves so as to keep an open channel on these communications.

The fact that Ryan was in an induced coma for some time but that secreted communications still continued, made him assume that the man was not involved in these events, or at least not directly. This was also supported by the fact that in interceptions in his possession is never made the name of Ryan McQuaid. There was, however, mentioned a mysterious "Captain" and it was not clear to whom this is referring.

When Barber and Hollman arrived, his living room was soon transformed into a veritable operational center. Each of them was holding open a specific control channel. Eric was also working to coordinate the return to the United States Of Ryan, Andrew was holding contacts with Langley and Auggie was preparing a protocol for the extraction of Annie and Calder's team if any were needed. It was quite late when they decided to adjourn the next morning so they said goodbye and gave themselves appointment in the office. The job, though in small steps, was proceeding in the right direction and it seemed that all the pieces really began to find a precise location.

It was night, in Washington, a wet and cool night in late October. In Mali probably it was beginning to dawn.

" _I wonder if Annie is already awake._ " Auggie thought, remembering that she had always enjoyed sleeping. Perhaps, in these two years away from each other, she had changed her habits. Or at least, living for two months in the desert, she had been forced by climatic and environmental conditions to change her lifestyles. Surely in the Berber tents, she hadn't the comforts of a real home: a bed with sheets, a bathroom, a chance to take a shower or soak in a tub ...

Auggie knew what Annie loved to lie down in a bath full of warm water and stay to relax as long as the water does not begin to cool. He smiled these thoughts. He tried to imagine how the sunrise could be in the desert, maybe it could look like the ones he had seen in Tikrit, before losing his sight. But after seven years, Auggie was beginning to not remember a lot of things he had seen either he could see. The scents and flavors, however, were what helped him to "see" his own memories.

 _Jo Malone Grapefruit_ ... It was the scent of Annie.

 _Green Goddess_ ... It was the canteen's salad preferred by Annie. Strictly without hazelnuts.

He realized that Annie was in every corner of his mind, in his every thought. Every fiber of his body was stretched out to her.

They had to bring her home, as soon as possible. He needed to talk to her, to know, to understand. He did not want to deceive himself, even Joan had told him. _She could not love you like you love her_. Yes, he was aware. But he could not help but to sustain hope.

"Maybe if Ryan would die ..." he is shocked to have had this thought.

Time. All in good time. The time would help everyone. Now, the most important thing was that THEY ALL would return to home safely.

He checked the time: it was 4 in the morning and had not slept, overwhelmed by thoughts and memories.

In a few hours, he would have to be in the office; He lay down on the couch and tried to get some sleep. He did not want to go to bed, he was afraid to fall asleep so deeply as not to hear the alarm and, therefore, to be late to the office.

He was suddenly awakened by his phone, it was Joan's message: " _I sent a taxi to pick you up. I'll wait in the office for you in half an hour._ "

It seemed to him that he had just fallen asleep. He checked his watch, it was 4:30 a.m.

What could have happened because Joan called him to work so early?

Only one thought took shape in his mind, only one name: he got ready quickly, put a warm coat, took his bag, his cane and walked to the front door of the building to wait for the taxi.


	17. Chapter 17

_**As opposed**_ _ **to the facts narrated in the other chapters, where the historical and political references actually happened, the events of this chapter are the result of my imagination.**_

Chapter 17

Since she lived in the desert, every morning Jedjiga got up just before dawn and watched engrossed the sunrise. It was a show that, after two months, still fascinated her. That immense ball of fire, which slowly rose up from behind the dunes gradually tinting the sky purple, red, orange and then pink, to leave space finally to blue skies, it was a decoy for her. Every time she watched the sunrise, it was as if time stopped and then resumes scroll faster. It was a moment she rediscovered herself, although she lost her memory, but she felt at peace with herself. That morning, then, the awareness of being able to talk to those who knew her and could tell about her past, made her excited and anxious at the same time.

She had helped Dassin making tea with all the ceremony to welcome guests and she could not wait they came. She was getting a thousand questions. She had a thousand questions to ask those men. She had so many "WHY" that filled her mind, but above all, she wanted to ask "WHO" Who was that blind guy who occasionally surfaced in her mind? Why did it seem to her to remember so clearly his voice, while she did not remember at all as he was?

Trying to think of him, she seemed to remember that he had aided her in the hospital after she had been shot because someone had been shot her, the scar in her chest was the confirmation. In her dreams, from time to time, it seemed to hear his voice saying " _I need you. I never needed anyone, but I need you._ "; It seemed to feel his warm and strong hand grab her and this feeling gave her a sense of peace and inner strength. If this guy really existed and had the power to calm her and give her courage, they had to have a special relationship. They had to be friends. Maybe they were best friends, or maybe they were more than friends. This thought made her blush and made her feel the chills down her spine. She noticed that her heart had accelerated the beating.

" _Oh my God ... maybe ... maybe he and I ... and if so ... he will be so worried ..._ " thought Jedjiga.

She was so deep in thought that she did not notice that someone was approaching her. She heard only a scream and then felt a painful twinge in her temple. And the darkness enveloped her.

Calder, Ethan, and Mike arrived at Abu-Mokhammed's home shortly after dawn.

Dassin let them in and led them into the room where they have spoken with her husband and Jedjiga the night before.

"Take a seat, gentlemen. My home is your home." Dassin said, " My husband will join us soon."

Dassin served tea to her guests, then, as Abu-Mokhammed arrived, she came out of the sitting-room.

"I'll go get Jedjiga." Dassin said, then corrected herself "... Annie, right?"

Calder nodded. "Thank you _tesednan_ for your kindness and hospitality." he said.

Dassin nodded her head, got out and walked to the back of the building. She arrived in the little courtyard just in time to see a man approaching Jedjiga, hit her violently with his fist and put her on his shoulders. Dassin screamed with all the breath in her throat. The scene had terrified her. Hearing her scream, men came running and found Dassin on the ground that still screaming desperately.

Abu-Mokhammed helped her up and held her, trying to calm her.

"They took it. They took Jedjiga. "She managed to say between sobs.

"Who took it?" Asked Mike

Dassin shook his head, trying to calm himself. "I do not know. A man. A man hit her and took her away."

Abu-Mokhammed helped her to get up and held her, trying to calm her.

"They took it. They took Jedjiga." She managed to say between sobs.

"Who took her?" Asked Mike.

Dassin shook her head, trying to calm herself. "I do not know. A man. A man hit her and took her away."

"Damn! This did not take!" thought Ethan

Suddenly a series of explosions boomed across the oasis. Calder, his men, and the Berbers couple found themselves on the ground covered with dust. A few minutes later, when they finally were able to get up, they realized that someone had undermined part of the oasis and had blown up several tents and a few buildings.

There were clouds of dust that were slowly dissipating, revealing the consequences of those explosions. The scene in front of Calder's eyes was terrifying: there were ruins everywhere. At least half of the oasis' tents were destroyed. The tortured bodies of many Berbers and many tourists in Taoudenni were scattered on the ground.

Gradually, the discomfort gave way to anger. Calder, Ethan, and Mike looked for their mates. The area where they were housed was razed to the ground. Anger momentarily gave way to concern: Jack and Bryan were not. This could mean that they went out from the accommodation and perhaps they were still alive.

Berber tribes were really well organized: Calder noted that, in a short time, the survivors were busy to prepare the areas where hospitalize the wounded and where to gather the bodies of the dead. Calder and his men began to help people as they could. Meanwhile, they tried to understand what had happened, but above all why it happened.

After almost an hour an SUV came quickly to the oasis; it stopped not far from the blast site and Jack and Bryan got out. When Ethan saw them met them.

"Hey! Where the hell have you had driven out! "They said," We were very worried about you. Are you all OK? "

"Yes, all right." Jack said, "We need to talk to Calder."

Within minutes, the team was reunited and they prepared inside the SUV a small operative base with tools that do not be destroyed in the explosion.

"Are we able to contact Langley?" Calder asked.

"I think so, give me a few minutes." Bryan answered.

Meanwhile, Calder turned to Jack "Ok, tell me everything."

"When you're heading to the Barber chief's accommodation, Bryan and I were out for a walk. We noticed two Berber jihadists were talking to Garrett. We could hear a part of their conversation. They had identified us, Garrett knew that we are CIA's agents. They talked to circumscribe the oasis and one of the two Berber told Garrett that he had just picked up a beautiful flower. At the time we didn't understand what he meant, then we've come up with one of the intercepts that Anderson had shot you in the last days."

" _Jedjiga_..." Calder said.

"Yeah, _Jedjiga_ means _flower_ , so..."

"They kidnapped Annie. Do you know where they are headed? "

"We followed them for a while to the North, but then we lost them."

"Calder" Bryan called "Langley online."

"I'm Michaels Calder, chief of the DPD." He qualified.

"Mr. Michaels, I'm Andrew Hollman."

"Hollman, please contact as soon as possible Joan Campbell. We need immediate technical support. Talk to in twenty minutes."

Then he turned to his men, "Now we have to establish a protocol of action in order to find Annie Walker as soon as possible and to organize an extraction team with Langley."

"Calder, a call from Langley." Bryan announced.

"Well, hand me the call."

"Mr. Michaels, are Hollman. Joan will be in the office in fifteen minutes. In the meantime, is there anything I can do for you? "

"Who is with you, Hollman?"

"Eric Barber, sir. And some other technical operational. "

"Have you had new wiretaps?"

"No, sir. The last Malian interception was two days ago. But…"

"But?" Calder asked.

"Well, since some days we're keeping under control some secreted lines between the McQuaid Security and Morocco. The last communication sent by the McQuaid Security office is a few hours ago. It spoke of an oasis to circumscribe, but we are not able to say what that meant. "

"I think we can answer this question. Someone has blown up over half of the tents and most of the buildings here in the oasis of Taoudenni. "

"Are you all right, sir?" Asked Andrew, his voice betrayed the concern.

"Yes, Hollman. We're all right. With a few scratches but alive."

"So circumscribe ... means to detonate" said Hollman a bit lost in thought. Calder felt that the boy, meanwhile, was typing on the computer keyboard "I think I might have some news for the next contact, sir, when Joan will be in the office."

"Well, see you later."

In the office of Langley, Hollman and Barber began to re-read transcriptions of intercepted communications between the agency Ryan McQuaid and Morocco.

"Eric, should we warn Auggie?"

"I think that he will come with Joan in a few minutes."

At that moment Auggie and Joan came in the DPD office.

"Well, Hollman. What's going on? "Asked Joan.

"Ma'am, there was a bombing in the oasis of Taoudenni. Calder and his men are unharmed, but many Berbers and tourists present in the oasis are dead."

Auggie did not say a word, but his face darkened and drawn.

"We agree with Calder that we just mentioned you were there. I'm already trying to get in contact with them. "Barber said.

"We can have a video call?" Joan asked.

"We can try, but I do not know how much of their equipment is still usable."

Within minutes Joan was in contact with Calder.

"Good morning Calder."

"Good morning to you, Joan."

"What happened?"

"The oasis of Taoudenni is almost completely destroyed. This morning, shortly after dawn, I went in the room of the Berber tribe's chief that housed Annie. We had to talk to her, to try to understand what she remembers and to arrange her return to the United States. Shortly after there were several explosions. "

"Calder ..." began Joan.

"I have not spoken with Annie, Joan. The wife of the head Berber saw someone hit her and kidnapped her. Two of my men, before the explosion, were able to follow the kidnappers for a while but then they lost them. They were headed to the North."

"In Morocco" pointed Auggie. He paused, as if to collect his thoughts, then turned to Calder "Calder, we found some encrypted communications between Ryan's agency and Morocco. I think there are some jihadist cells in Rabat. When your men have found Annie in Taoudenni and they sent us pictures to identify her, her credit card was used in Rabat."

"Obviously, when Ryan's convoy was attacked in Timbuktu, the guerrillas have believed she's dead and stole her documents." Barber said.

"But now we can no longer think it was just a case, there are too many coincidences: Ryan and his men escorting a convoy carrying weapons; Annie and her team recruited mercenaries in Nigeria and part of his team had direct first in Morocco and then reunited with Ryan group in Mali. "Joan said.

Yes, there must be something underneath," agreed Calder.

"I cannot believe that Annie is involved in all that," said Auggie with transportation "I cannot and I will not believe it. What reason could she have to interfere with a country's foreign policy? "


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"We must be realistic, Auggie." Joan said in a worried voice.

"Yes, of course... realistic." Auggie answered snapped. "Joan I don't think that..."

"Maybe I've something." Hollman interrupted them.

"Whatever you've found Hollman, please let us have it as soon as possible." intervened Calder "I've to interrupt the call, for now. The batteries of our laptops are low. We talk to you later." And hung up.

"Ma'am..." Barber called, his voice was really worried. Everyone in the room turned to look at the monitors.

"We just got the news that the French army stationed in Mali attacked the guerrilla groups in the north of the country." Said Barber.

"Ma'am, a call for you on the private line." said one of the secretaries in the DPD.

"Good, I take the call in my office. You guys come with me. "She said to Auggie, Eric and Andrew.

The situation was becoming hot.

The information of the DGSE, the French foreign intelligence services, had proved accurate.

So the French offensive had started.

Once in her office, Joan took the phone call.

"Joan Campbell," she said. Gradually, her face became more serious than it already was. Barber and Hollman fell silent.

"What happened?" Auggie asked in a whisper to Eric.

"I dunno. Joan is silent and her face does not bode well. "

"Well, sir. It will be done."Joan ended the phone call.

The three men looked at her waiting for her to speak.

"It was the head of the Special Activities Division. We need to coordinate Calder Michaels and his team by giving them all the technical and logistic support we have. We will need to contact our resources in Africa. The Calder's mission is to capture Samuel Garrett and has absolute priority over everything else. "

"This means that we will have to cooperate with foreign intelligence services, right?" Barber asked.

"Exactly, Barber. Our superiors have ensured the DGSE our full cooperation to catch this terrorist. What information have we at the moment?"

"Samuel Garrett is currently _undetectable_. According to the information Calder gave us during the last contact, he was directed to the North of Mali, probably to Morocco." said Hollman "But I think we could easily find him. Among the intercepts that we recorded between McQuaid Security and their contacts in Morocco, there are some steps that may help. I just have to check out some of them."

"Very good, Hollman," said Joan, "Let's go to work."

It was not 5 am yet and already the day promised to be intense and chaotic. Intense, chaotic and rather long.

Left the office of Joan, Hollman began to check the transcripts of the wiretaps between the Ryan McQuaid's agency and Morocco, while Auggie and Barber began to organize the extraction teams to their fellow citizens in various parts of North Africa. Everything depended on where and when they captured Samuel Garrett. Auggie started to contact some resources in the North African region, in particular in Morocco, because they began to investigate about Dimitri Diachkov, aka Samuel Garrett. Auggie made sure that one of these resources, in particular, to follow the movements of Annie credit cards, which last week had been used again in a small shop too casually with no video surveillance. There were too many things that seemed random, now.

Hollman walked into Auggie's office: "I think I have some important information," he said "Talking with Calder before you and Joan came, I realized that in our interceptions _to_ _circumscribe_ means _to detonate_. If there are no errors in the transcriptions, the jihadist guerrillas had knowledge of today's attack of the French militia. They waited only that French soldiers moved to take the offensive in Niger, in areas close to Mali."

"So, the guerrillas know the French army moves." Barber said.

"Yes, the leaders of the guerrillas have given orders to limit some Nigerian areas near the border with Mali: one of their sensible targets is the field of Malian refugees in Mangaize."

Auggie was silent. He was thinking back to all the information they had, trying to take stock of the situation; Ryan had to already be traveling to Washington DC for at least a couple of hours, though there were hitches the agency's plane would arrive late in the afternoon, for 6.00 hours of Washington.

French troops attacked the guerrilla's jihadists in the North East of Mali, so why had Dimitri Diachkov headed North with Annie? It meant to head in the middle of the fighting. And if he really was the traffic mediator of weapons ongoing in Mali, the North direction was real to be reckless. Something was wrong.

"Have we a way to track down the two Berbers that work with Diachkov?" Auggie asked Hollman.

"We can try," said Andrew, "What do you have in mind?"

"I do not understand why Diachkov has headed North, it means to get into the arms of the enemy. If we can detect the movements of the two jihadists Berbers, maybe we can reconstruct their movements and predict their steps."

"This is the last communication between the McQuaid Security and Morocco." Andrew said to Auggie, handing him the Braille files.

"We must find out who is behind these communications at the Security McQuaid." Auggie said, "Maybe Arthur can help us."

"He does not work yet in Ryan Agency's offices." Barber said, "Now he's involved in politics"

"Well, it may come in handy. Arthur is a shrewd man, qualities necessary to enter politics. "

"You have something in mind, Anderson." said Hollman "something big. And I'm not sure I'll like it. "

"You do not have to like, Hollman. We have a mission: to capture a dangerous arms dealer and bring home safely our operatives. ALL"

Hollman knew that in the mind of Auggie a plan was taking shape; step by step, bit by bit, the Auggie mind was considering all the pros and cons before taking action.

Hollman left the Auggie's office followed by Barber and began to look for traces of the two Berber jihadists.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

She awoke, tied and gagged in the back of a van. Her temple, which had been struck, throbbed. She realized she had a hood over her head, so she could not see or where they were going or who had kidnapped her. She thought back to the words that Dassin told her some time ago " _If you fell into the hands of raiders of the desert do not hate to think what might happen to you .._."

" _I have to be calm, and follow my instinct._ " she thought to herself.

She began to think of the men with whom she would have to speak in the oasis of Taoudenni. They had told her that she had been a CIA operative and a spy. And the spies were trained to solve even fairly complicated situations. And it was no doubt that she was really in a complicated situation. She could make out two voices that seemed familiar.

" _Yebraim and Mebruk._ " she thought " _so it was they who kidnap me. But why?_ "

The answer came to her in a few minutes. The two Berbers were in radio contact with other men, perhaps other guerrillas, and they were speaking French.

"We have the American." Yebraim said.

"How is she?" Someone asked from the other end of the radio

"Well, she's just fainted. She may have a few bruises. "joked Mebruk.

"Were you able to know who she is?"

"No, not yet. But _Monsieu_ r Garrett thinks she is an agent of CIA or of any US government agency."

"Don't mention the name of Captain, EVER!" Upbraided them the man with whom they were talking by radio "And what makes he think that she is a government agent?" He added.

"Last night our father spoke to men that the Captain has recognized as CIA agents. They pretend to be tourists, but it certainly is a cover."

"Good. If so, she could be dangerous."

"We tied her up very well. And then we believe she has lost her memory."

"Keep an eye on anyway. Have you had problems?"

"No. Someone must have followed us for a while, but in the desert is easy to disappear without a trace."

"Well, let's adjourn later." and communication was closed.

" _So they know who I am._ " she thought, " _I must be very careful_."

After a few minutes, the van stopped. Still wearing the cap, she could not see where they were. Yebraim got out from the vehicle, opened the rear door and tugged her down. Under her foot, she felt the dirt and hot desert sand. So Jedjiga deduced they could be in some oasis or in some village. " _I should start thinking of myself as Annie Walker and no longer as Jedjiga_ " she said to herself.

Thinking of the name _Jedjiga_ made her smile. She had lived with that name for two months and it was bound almost all the memories she had. As Annie Walker, she had only flashes of her life. She remembered two little girls, a red car and a blue Corvette, vaguely she remembered the man who had met in the oasis, Calder Michaels, and she remembered a deep and warm voice that belonged to a blind guy. She tried to get in her mind a memory of him. Nothing. Only the voice and hands. But thinking of him calmed her.

" _I cannot remember you, my friend_ " Annie thought, " _but I have a feeling that you know me very well. I have the memory of your voice in my mind, your warm and reassuring voice. Maybe you have handled me in my missions for the CIA?_ "At this last thought, Annie smiled. How could a blind person work for the CIA? If that were the case, he had to have excellent skills in some specific field. But what could be so competent a blind man, to work for the CIA?

Annie was so focused on these thoughts that she could almost see in her mind a group of people in a large room where there were several computers and monitors switched on. She had the feeling of stepping into the room accompanied by a woman. A guy was sitting at a desk in front of a computer, she saw his back. The thick dark brown hair fell just above the nape of the neck; he was wearing a dark gray jacket and, from his lapel, she could see the collar of a blue shirt. She approached him and noticed that he had a particular keyboard, on which he did quickly run through his tapering fingers. The boy turned to the women: his full and regular lips stretched themselves into a smile that enchanted Annie.

The voices of the men around her brought her back to reality. Someone tugged to make her walk. They dragged her to a hundred paces, then stopped. Someone opened a door, let her in, made a few more steps, opened a second door and entered a room where she was taken off the cap.

Annie squinted to get used to the light in the room. She looked at the man who was with her. Had their faces covered, so that Annie could not recognize him.

"Do you understand my language?" He asked in French. Annie nodded. Perhaps continuing to play the part of the dumb girl could help her. After all, neither Yebraim nor Mebruk heard her speak. The man pulled the handkerchief out of her mouth.

"What's your name?" He asked again. Annie shook her head.

"Do not you want to speak?" He asked irritably. Annie opened her mouth as if to speak, but he articulated only a few indistinct sound. The man stared at her with questioning eyes.

"What, are you dumb?" He asked derisively. Annie nodded. The man stared at her again, not sure whether to believe her or not. Annie understood his hesitation. Now she had to use cunning and be very careful not to make a sound for any reason, even if she had been tortured. It was of her credibility. And that he could return to her advantage.

Suddenly a conversation echoed in her head "Lies will confuse you, the truth is easier to remember." That voice, his voice, was still there, in her thoughts, and was guiding her.

At that moment another man came in. The two men began to speak in Berber. Annie did not understand what they were saying, but by the way, they were staring at her she realized that they were talking about her.

"So you're dumb, huh?" the second man asked in French. Annie recognized the Mebruk's voice. She looked at him and nodded.

"I'm not so sure, you know? We will find a way to make you talk." then nodded to his companion and went out.

Annie looked around: the room was quite small, there were close to a wall faded cushions, a rug in the middle of the room and not very big window with railings in the wall opposite the door. The floor was stone, bare walls had the memory of what must have been white plaster. A couple of chairs and a small table ramshackle completed the furnishing of the room.

"I have to study a possible escape route," thought Annie "And I should also find ways to get in contact with Calder Michaels." She smiled to herself at this last thought: easier said than done.

Shortly after the two men returned. They sat her up and gave her something to eat.

"I'm sorry _tesednan_ , but here you'll have to make do" scoffed one that could be Mebruk. Annie nodded in thanks.

The two men were still faces covered. They untied her wrists behind her back and waited for her to finish eating and then tie her again. She had not noticed it before, but in the wall where there were the pillows, there was a ring embedded in, to which the two Berber fixed the ropes that bound her, leaving them long enough for her to sit down.

She sat on cushions and leaned against the wall as the two men left, closing the door behind them. From where she sat, Annie could hear them talking. She did not understand what they were saying even though she sensed that they were talking about the oasis where they had camped since they had appointed Tauodenni least a couple of times.

Then she heard them again speaking French during another conversation via radio.

"We blew a large part of the Taoudenni's oasis. Your father and his wife are alive, but many Berbers and many tourists ... " said the person on the radio, leaving the outstanding speech. Annie felt a terrible heartache.

" _Oh my God_!" she thought, " _What will happen to Lila and her family? And Calder_?"

The two Berbers did not answer immediately, then they saluted their interlocutors and shut the radio communication. A third man came in the next room, surely a Frenchman, because he spoke the language perfectly without inflection or crippling. Annie listened very carefully to their dialogue, even though she could not hear completely what they said. He was well aware that French troops had attacked the Tigharghar mountainous area, where many jihadist guerrillas had their refuge. The three men were also talking about the context of their commanders to fight back in some areas of Niger next to Mali.

" _The political situation is very delicate_." Annie thought. In her mind began to take shape a plan to get rid.

She had counted three men and she hoped there were not any others nearby. The vehicle on which they arrived had been parked at about 70-100 meters, she hoped that they had left the keys in the ignition. The strings with which she was tied were long enough to make her sit on the floor, not much long, really. She did not know for sure whether the men were armed, but they were definitely: she just had to figure out what kind of weapons they had. The biggest problem, once she managed to free herself, was to understand where she was and which way to go to return to the oasis of Taoudenni.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Annie thought quickly, carefully analyzing all the possibilities.

First, she had to be able to know how many men were and what kind of weapons they had. Then she had to be able to break free, but it seemed much easier to do everything else. If she did, she later thought to rest.

" _One thing at a time,_ " she said to herself. She watched carefully the ropes and chains with which she was linked. The brooch that she had under her robe could probably serve her. Khennuj had taught her how to hide among the folds of the robe brooches and hairpins because " _you never know, they could always serve_."

" _Dear Khennuj, because you were right_." Annie thought. She just had to wait for the right moment to break free. The strings would then serve possibly to tie men who had kidnapped her.

Now she had to think about how to know how many men were in the building. Shortly after, one of them came in carrying a plate of food; he lifted her up, drew a chair up to the table and put down the dish because the girl could eat.

"Eat and be satisfied, because you will see nothing else until tomorrow," he said.

Annie ate quietly, trying to observe the man unnoticed. He walked nervously back and forth in the room, constantly checked his watch and had appeared at the window at least three times.

" _He's nervous, perhaps_ _are waiting for someone_ _. This could_ _make matters worse_." thought Annie. She had to act quickly. She looked at the man earnestly.

"What are you looking at?" He asked. Annie made him understand that she was thirsty and she needed the bathroom. The man left and returned a few minutes later with one of his companions, this time they were both armed. The untied her and took her out of the building. Annie kept her head down, trying not to attract attention: they had not put the cap and this would allow her to closely observe the situation around, but if you were aware of this lack ...

The building in which they had locked her up was made of clay bricks and stones. Around it, there were at least four other buildings, behind one of which she saw the van. It was the only vehicle, then they had to be reached with that. Not far from the buildings there was a tower in the middle of a square and everything was surrounded by walls. Trying to keep lowest possible her head, Annie memorized everything she saw. Then her gaze was attracted by a quite imposing building that resembled her a fortress. They went into another building, in which they allowed her to satisfy his bodily needs, then gave her something to drink and took her back to the room that was her cell.

In a short way, she had not noticed other men in addition to the three who she had already seen. They had Kalashnikovs slung and their face covered with a veil wrapped around their head like a _tagelmust_ , the typical veil of the Berbers.

" _Well, two of them are Yebraim and Mebruk."_ she thought. She was almost certain the third man was a French because he spoke the language perfectly. But also he spoke very well Berber. She would think about him calmly. Now she had to focus on the two brothers. Yebraim seemed her more fragile and vulnerable, she had to work on him. Perhaps if she had persuaded him to release her... This meant, however, she had to reveal him that she was not dumb. And if she was wrong about him? No, she could not be mistaken: his eyes more than once had revealed his state of mind before her. She had seemed to sense his disagreement with his brother on several occasions in the Taoudenni's oasis. She had to make sure it was really so.

Both brothers went in the room where she was bound. Mebruk went in first, Yebraim was behind him. The Mebruk's gaze was mocking, Yebraim's one was worried and at the same time grim.

"Well, my girl." said Mebruk "Let's see if you really are dumb". He removed the veil from his face, he headed toward her, untied from the wall and threw her forcefully on the pillows. Annie looked at him very frightened. Mebruk took off the robe and remained shirtless. In his eyes, Annie saw cruelty and lust. And she was afraid.

"Get ready, floret. Now you'll know a _real_ man." said Mebruk, leaving it clear to her what his intentions were. He ripped her robe, then blocked her to the ground going up astride on her thighs. With one hand blocked her wrists tied above her head and the with the other hand he finished to rip off her clothes. Then he loosened his trouser waistband and he lowered his pants to mid-thigh. He opened her legs and his fingers began to touch her and penetrate her intimately. Annie tried to free herself, but the man's weight on her body made any movement very difficult. Annie did not let out a groan.

"Floret, you'll see that I'll make you talk ... you scream for pleasure." grinned Mebruk burying his face in her long hair.

Annie looked at Yebraim with eyes full of tears. He remained near the door, motionless, with eyes full of disgust and hatred for his brother.

Mebruk slightly up his loins, preparing to penetrate into her. Annie waited for the inevitable, continuing to wriggle as she could. She was about to close her eyes when she saw a flash of movement in the room. She felt suddenly to flood the face and chest by a warm, sticky liquid. She opened her eyes and what she saw horrified her. Yebraim had slit the throat of his brother and his blood poured over her profusely.

Yebraim shifted his brother's body from Annie, held out his hand to help her up, held out her tunic because she would cover and motioned for her to follow him. Annie knew she had been right, she could trust him.

They left the building and quickly made their way into the one next, where they had already been brought earlier.

"Here you can wash. There is a tub with water. Not much, I'm sorry." Yebraim looked down. "I'll leave you alone if you need help, I am out there."

"Thanks." said Annie to him. Yebraim stared at her open-mouthed in surprise, then smiled.

"so Mebruk was right. You can speak."

"Yes."

"I'm sorry for what he did to you. I never approved of his ways."

Annie nodded. "You killed him to save me. Why?"

"If I had just turned him from you, he would kill him. You do not know what he can be capable of when he is in that state. " His voice was deep and sad. He had seen before his brother raping girls, in those moments he was really a fury. He had even tried to stop him, but he realized that it could be more harmful than letting him do. When he felt that uncontrollable impulse, he could not reason with him, it was as if he was under the influence of any drugs or possessed by some kind of demon.

Annie nodded in thanks, then he headed to the bath and washed and she seemed to be reborn. Yebraim returned, handed her a towel to dry and gave her the clothes he had gone to pick up where Mebruk ripped them to her.

"Can you fix them?" He asked gently.

"Yup. Khennuj taught me how to use brooches and hairpins."

"Good. We'll have to get out of here as soon as possible, tomorrow morning."

They left the building and walked to the van. The bright colors of the sunset tinged the sky with shades of orange to increasingly intense purple. In a few minutes, it would be dark.

"We'll sleep in the van." said Yebraim.

"Where are we?" Asked Annie.

"In the salt mine of Taghaza, about 95 miles northwest of Taoudenni. Now it is an oasis. It's been abandoned for many years; tourists sometimes come to visit, but not at this time."

"Where are we going to go?"

"We'd have to get our comrades to Sijilmasa, in Morocco, in the coming days. Now we will have to consider very well the way to go. I will have you back to Taoudenni, to your countrymen."

"I heard that they detonated the oasis."

"Yup. My parents are still alive, I hope your American friends are too. And I hope even Ghumer and his family are still alive. They have always been very good to me, ever since I was a child."

"Why did you save me?"

"What do you mean?" Yebraim stared.

"You could just leave the room and go, you could ignore what your brother was doing, but you didn't. Why?"

"I could not just pretend nothing happened. My father perhaps will never forgive me."

"You have not answered my question." Annie said. They looked each other in the eyes for a long time, then Yebraim looked away.

"In the back of the van, there are a couple of blankets and pillows. You can sleep there. I will stay here, so as soon the day breaks, we leave. If you sleep, I do not wake you up."

Annie thanked him again, then she went to the back of the van and prepared for the night. In her mind, she still had the look of Yebraim, a look that told her more than many words. Realized she could trust him, she could get help. And she also realized that he would defend her if need be. But more than anything she understood why he would help her. Yebraim was in love with her and, if on one hand, this flattered her, on the another hand, she was sorry. She could never reciprocate this feeling except with gratitude, but nothing more.

She was walking, side by side with someone; there were many bicycles around them as they crossed a bridge over a canal. Then she recognized the voice of the person who was with her, that warm, deep voice. They had to be on a mission.

 _"You got quiet all of a sudden."_

 _"I know I just want this to work."_

 _"It will. I had a Sergeant in basic training, mean son-of-a-bitch, but he taught us one thing that really stuck with me. Going into battle is like blowin' out a birthday candle."_

 _"Okay, that doesn't help me because I have no idea what it means."_

 _"It means, don't over think it, put all the noisy thoughts out of your head, close your eyes, and think about one positive thing that you want. Or one thing ya love."_

* * *

 **Please, forgive me if my English is not so good, I'm not a native Language.  
If you find some mistakes, please lemme know. Thanks in advance for all your help and support. And, as my friend Mandi used to say, _"Just like you'd clap or boo for the concert, please review my writing as you read it. I really NEED to hear from you. Each review is like a piece of chocolate rewarded to my for my hard work. Do you think I deserve that reward?"_  
**


	21. Chapter 21

_**So, here I am. I'm sorry for the delay. I upload this chapter but I'm still waiting for corrections by a gentle friend of mine, but I know she's very busy. So I hope she doesn't mind when she'll read this chapter on Fanfiction website. As soon as she'll send corrections to me, I'll replace my writing. Meantime, be lenient to me, I'm not English native. Enjoy the story and let me your comment, if you want.**_

Chapter 21

Yebraim did not sleep, _could_ _not_ sleep. His brother's body was still in the room where they had been segregated Annie and that thought tormented him. Their French partner was left with a group of guerrillas which came to pick him up in mid-afternoon. They had agreed to maintain radio silence throughout the day, but then they would have heard the following day to receive orders. When the French had left, Mebruk had immediately seized the opportunity to take the lead, _"Let's have some fun, little brother"_ had told him. These words still rang in his mind. Now he did not know what to do. Go Taoudenni meant to help the American girl, but also endanger their lives: he could be accused of treason both by his guerrilla comrades from his father. Going to Sijilmasa according to plan could mean his salvation but not the American's.

He was still caught in these considerations when it began to dawn. Annie woke up with a start, the experience of the previous day had not left her to rest much. She looked around a bit disoriented and realized that Yebraim was staring at her.

"Good morning," she said.

"Good morning _tesednan._ I hope you have been able to sleep at least a bit."

"Not really. What happened yesterday ... "Annie clutched in the blanket. Yebraim looked at her and nodded.

"I understand." He said. He paused and added "We'll have to bury my brother before we leave."

Annie looked down and pulled the blanket higher still as if to cover her head.

"What do you do now? Where are we going to go?"

"Actually I have not decided yet. For me, it is risky to return to Taoudenni. If we went to Sijilmasa ... "

"So _you have not decided_ what to do with me. I realized that you wanted to take me from my own people "

"Yes, I had thought of that. But if we go back, for one reason or another, or my father or my companions, they could kill me "

"I see. Then you put at risk my life to save yours "Annie was relying on man's feelings for her. It was not something that she was proud of, but she had to do.

"You know I would never do that, I am not as Mebruk." Yebraim replied gravely.

Annie looked at him and realized that he really would have given his life to her. She felt overwhelmed by what she read in his eyes and terribly guilty about what she was doing.

"Okay, let's go Sijilmasa. Along the way we will study a way to avoid both end badly." she said.

"Agree. Get ready then, we leave as soon as possible "

They took the food from the building where they had locked Annie, they filled up the van jerrycans of water, filled the gas tank, wrapped the Mebruk body in a blanket and buried him just outside the walls. Then Yebraim contacted by radio his companions to inform them that they were going to leave Taghaza.

In less than an hour, they were ready to leave. The trip to Sijilmasa would be rather long and complicated, they had to travel more than 500 miles in the desert. They would be alone, without the support of any caravan. Shortly after noon they stopped near a gorge cut into the rock to stretch their legs, they ate something underneath the shade of the van and tried to get some rest. Yebraim's beginning to feel the fatigue of a sleepless night and nearly six uninterrupted hours of driving.

"I can drive myself," Annie volunteered.

"Are you able to do?"

"Yes, I think so. It seems to me that I've already done."

"Really don't you remember anything about your past?"

In the mind of Annie again _that_ voice rang _"Lies will confuse you, the truth is easier to remember"_

"Yes, I really do not remember. I have some mental pictures, but I'm not sure if they are real memories or just dream that I did."

"Do you want to talk?"

"No. Not now, at least. I don't even know what to think of what I have in my mind. It seems to be shrouded in fog, without seeing a light that can guide me."

"I think it's normal when you lose your memory," said Yebraim. The two were silent for a while. The desert heat was stifling, and even the shadow of the rocks didn't give relief. They decided to leave and Yebraim entrusted driving to Annie. The navigator of the van was already set with the direction to follow, so they would not run the risk of getting lost. Once started, Yebraim settled in the back of the van to rest and within a few minutes, he fell asleep. As she drove, Annie could hear the steady breathing of his companion, he seemed calm and she was pleased. She felt very guilty for what Yebraim had had to do to his brother to save her. She had to help him as she could.

Around them, there were only sand and, occasionally, rocks. The landscape was pretty dull as fascinating. Annie focused on driving, following, when necessary, navigator's instructions. She did not notice the time passing: the light of day in the desert, it was always the same at any time. Except when, suddenly, you realized that the sunset approached. Then the sky took so intense warm colors that it seemed that even the air is tinged. And looking at the sky, Annie noticed that the sun was not far.

Yebraim's voice broke the silence. "What's your name? I mean the real one."

"Annie. Annie Walker. So at least the American who spoke with your father said to me two days ago "

"Annie." repeated Yebraim. "It's a beautiful name"

"Thank you. Were you able to rest?"

"Yes enough. No radio contact? "

"Nope. I'd have called you, otherwise "

"By now it is dark. It should not be much longer. "Yebraim climbed over the seat and sat beside her. He looked at the navigation display and then pointed to a spot on the horizon. "Here we are. In a few minutes, we reach."

"What will you say? About your brother, me ... "

"I do not know, actually. This morning I had thought many possible explanations, but now all they seem really trivial. But we will have to decide quickly "

"May I ask why you kidnapped me?"

"When the C _aptain_ realized that your friends were American government agents and not mere tourists, he has decided to use you as a bargaining chip. Your life for his life"

"Why?"

The attack on the convoy in which you traveled is his work and his men. Men died in that ambush and among them there were Americans. We know well how the US government takes these things The _Captain_ is wanted by US government agencies, and not only by those."

"Why have they blasted the convoy? Your father told me that it was carrying humanitarian aid "

"Humanitarian aid but not only that."

"What do you mean?"

"Humanitarian aid is used to cover the transport of weapons to supply the French troops stationed in Niger and Mali."

At that moment the radio resting on the dashboard of the van gave the incoming call signal. Yebraim replied, then inserted the speakerphone.

"Where are you?" asked a man in French.

"We are coming to Sijilmasa. I think we'll be there in about ten minutes"

"Have you been informed about the French attacks to Tigharghar?"

"Yup. Our French contact in Taghaza informed us. "

"The French attacks were two, one yesterday and one today. Many of our people have died. As soon as you arrive, we will inform you of the counter-offensive which will take place tomorrow in Tilladeri "

"Good. See you later"

Annie thought back to the conversation she had a few minutes before with Yebraim and to that she had heard on the radio. So the political situation in North Africa was very difficult, with many wars. If the Jihadists guerrillas had blown up the convoy with which she was traveling, it meant that they had taken up carrying arms. And those weapons were definitely served to increase the firepower of terrorist groups. All this did not promise zero good.

The speed of thought of assembling the various information astonished Annie.

 _"Perhaps this shows that I've really been a CIA's operative."_ she thought.

The problem was to understand, now, what was her current job. Did she work for a private agency? If so, what kind of agency was? Why was she that convoy carrying weapons? Were they really weapons designed to allied troops?

. There were so many questions in her head, so many questions that she wanted and _had to_ give an answer.

And before finding the answers to a thousand questions that assailed her, there were more immediate issues to resolve: What would become of her, once they arrive in Sijilmasa? What would Yebraim say to justify the absence of Mebruk? Could she, in some way, to warn Calder and his men about her position?


End file.
